Our Reverse Trick-or-Treating for Halloween

Oh what to do about Halloween? It's a bit of a dilemma in NZ. As a country we don't have a tradition of Halloween; yet our children, possibly with the aid of advertising, just can't help themselves but want to engage with it. Where else does dress ups, theatre and candy combine so beautifully? 

Anyway, Little Miss really wanted to go trick or treating this year, but I just wasn't happy with going around our neighbours effectively demanding candy when no one in our street really pays any attention to Halloween. Having heard about reverse trick or treating last year, we thought we'd give it a go. Reverse trick or treating is when you go around giving the treats to your neighbours, rather than expecting to be the recipient. We're always looking for opportunities to encourage our only child's generosity, so this was the perfect scheme. 

With a ghosty theme in mind, I made these Raspberry Ghost Meringues and some delicious Chocolate truffles to share with our neighbours. They are super easy to make and gluten free.

Raspberry Ghost Meringues

4 egg whites
a pinch of cream of tartar
1 cup caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon raspberry extract
2 tablespoons berry jelly crystals

Preheat the oven to 120deg. C. and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Carefully separate the eggs to avoid contaminating the whites with any egg yolk, as this would prevent the whites from foaming up as they should. Add the pinch of cream of tartar to the whites and with the whisk attachment to the beater, beat until soft peaks form. Add the caster sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time. Beat well in between each addition. The mixture will become smooth and glossy. Beat until firm peaks hold when the whisk attachment is raised from the mixture.

Add the cornflour, beating briefly and slowly until it is combined. 

Take the bowl from the mixer. Add the raspberry extract and jelly crystals to the mix. 

Using a spatula, fold the mixture just once.

That way the raspberry is marbled through the mixture. 

Gently spoon the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle. 

Pipe the meringues straight down onto the tray, squeezing the bag in 'jolts' so they form little round rolls in the sides. 

Leave a gap between each meringue on the tray as they will spread a little.











Bake the meringues for 2 hours until they are crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. At this stage turn the oven off and open the oven door. Leave them in the cooling oven for another half hour.

Once they are cold, melt some chocolate, and using a skewer or toothpick, dab two eyes onto each ghost meringue. 

We packaged our treats up in cellophane bags, wrote out some little cards, then off to visit our neighbours. 

Everyone was thrilled to receive our little gift. It was a lovely way for us to catchup with our neighbours, no-one felt pressured because they didn't have sweets in the house, and our little blossom was so happy spreading a little joy around our street. Definitely a tradition we'll be doing again next year.