October Sweet Bread Ghost Recipe

For one of my favourite months of the year, I want to share with you a fantastic ghostly recipe that was in my local supermarket’s magazine a few years ago, and which I’ve been making them ever since. I’ve translated the German into English and can promise these sweet-bread ghosties are super easy to make, and are delicious with any kind of jam. Though I guess strawberry or raspberry look more Halloween-appropriate. 👻

 INGREDIENTS: Makes 8 Ghosts

200ml milk | 500g white flour | 7g dry yeast | 100g butter (soft) | 100g white sugar | a pinch of salt | 2 eggs | 24 raisins | raspberry or strawberry jam to serve

METHOD:

Warm 170 ml of milk in saucepan. Mix the flour and yeast together. Add the warm milk, butter, sugar, salt and one egg to flour and yeast mixture and knead for about 5-10 minutes. Cover the dough and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Knead the dough briefly again and then divide into 8 equal pieces. To make the ghosts, roll and shape each piece into ovals about 1 cm thick. Using a knife make two diagonal cuts, one on each side about a quarter of the way down from the top - and then shape the head. At about a 45° angle make two further cuts below to form the arms. For the body, twist the end to give a ghostly sheet effect. Place the ghosts on two baking sheets leaving space between them. Cover and leave for another 30 minutes to rise.

Heat the oven to 180°C. Separate the egg yolk from one egg and mix with the remaining milk. Brush the ghosts with the egg-milk wash and then press raisins into the dough for eyes and a mouth. Bake for around 15-20 minutes or until the ghosts are golden in colour. Serve with jam!

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