Originating from the Celtic holiday called Samhain, Halloween has been an everlasting and ever-evolving holiday across the world.

In its modern version, Halloween is a hodgepodge of cultures, associated most commonly with celebrants parading in costume.

Whether these youths know it or not they wear costumes in an effort to hide from fae creatures like the Dullahan, headless horsemen, or the Sluagh, all vengeful spirits.

When Samhain was rebranded as All Hallows’ Eve, Halloween, the Roman holiday of Feralia was merged with it and introduced the apple to the mid-autumn festival.

Today apples are bobbed for, candied, and dished out alongside sweets.

Caramel Apple Bars:

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1/4 cup shortening

7/4 cups flour

3/2 cups oats

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

9/2 cups of diced tart apples

3 tbsps flour

14 oz caramel squares

Preheat an oven to 400°F. Combine the sugar, butter, shortening flour, oats, salt, and baking soda. Remove two cups of the mixture and press the remaining mixture into a lined pan. Toss the apples and three tablespoons of flour and spread them onto the pan. Slowly melt the caramel in a saucepan and pour over the apples. Lightly press the remaining mixture onto the pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and the apples are tender.

One of the most iconic symbols of Halloween is the jack-o-lantern, but less iconic is the original jack-o-lantern. Though not as old as Samhain, jack-o-lanterns still originate from the same place, Ireland. In the 1800s people carved faces into root vegetables in the same vein as the folk figure Stingy Jack. Once this vegetable carving tradition reached America it made the change from carving mangel-wurzels to carving pumpkins.

Pumpkin Purée and other related recipes:

1 pie pumpkin

Preheat an oven to 325°F. Half the pumpkin and remove the guts, seeds and stem. Flatten the shell and wrap with foil. Place on a baking sheet with the meaty side up and bake until the meat is tender, about an hour. Transfer the meat to a blender and blend until smooth, some water may need to be added.

The removed seeds can be roasted and seasoned.

The purée can be used in a range of desserts like panna cotta, creme brûlée and rice pudding. It can be mixed with brown sugar, butter and warm spices to make compound butter or simply mixed with maple syrup for a pumpkin spread.

The purée can be mixed with vanilla ice cream, milk and cinnamon to make a pumpkin flavoured milkshake or it can be mashed with potatoes to add an orangy sweetness.

As previously mentioned, Halloween is a mid-Autumn festival as it is the midpoint between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. As fall comes, crops like corn, squash and roots ripen. With this in mind when The Goelitz Candy Company bought the rights to candy corn from the Wunderle Candy Company, they progressively limited the season they sold candy corn until it became primarily available the few weeks preceding Halloween.

Candy Corn Blondies:

12 tbsp melted butter

3/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsps vanilla extract

3/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cups white chocolate chips

3/4 cups candy corn

Sea salt

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Stir in the sugar to the melted butter until it is dissolved. Store the butter in the refrigerator for ten minutes. Gently add the eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly mix in the chips and corn. Pour and smooth the batter into a lined pan. Bake until the tops start to crack, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before sprinkling with sea salt.