But it’s easy to make, delicious to eat and very healthful.

Brandied fruit can be enjoyed on its own; or with a topping of sour cream or yogurt (plain or vanilla), blended with a bit of brown sugar. Add a plate of small cookies and you’ve got a fine dessert.

You can also use brandied fruit as a topping for angel, pound or sponge cakes; and under or over a scoop of sorbet.

Serve it in a pretty glass dish, a goblet, or in a meringue nest.
 
 
BRANDY OR COGNAC

As the saying goes, all cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is cognac.

Cognac is grape brandy, a distillate of wine. It is specifically produced in the region surrounding the town of Cognac, in central France. It is double distilled using pot stills and then aged for at least two years. It must be made from a specific group of white grape varieties, as well.

Grape brandy can be made anywhere, from any grapes (brandy is also made from fruit and pomace), does not require double distillation or long aging.

Cognac is a better product. The double distilling and aging rounds out the spirit and produces more mellow flavors.
 
 
START WITH THE FRUIT SALAD

The best fruit salad is an appealing mix of colors, flavors an textures.

 
Cut larger fruits into even pieces; seed the grapes and pit the cherries. If you’re using fruits that brown, sprinkle the cut fruit with lemon juice. Slice bananas just before serving, as they discolor most quickly.

[2] Don’t use your finest cognac to mix with the fruit, but do enjoy a snifter of it on the side (photo © Hennessy Cognac).

The easiest version is simply to sprinkle brandy over a fruit salad; cover and refrigerate for an hour or more. We actually mix a tablespoon with the fruit juices from the salad; then toss to ensure that all pieces are coated.

You can also add some mint leaves to the marinade. Before serving, remove them and replace with fresh mint leaves.
 
 
2. COOKED BRANDIED FRUIT

You can also brandy a fruit compote, which is mixed stewed fruit. These should be the best seasonal fruits, full of natural sweetness and flavor.

Here’s the recipe for compote.

Make the pancake, use a ghost cookie cutter. If
you have several cookie cutters, you can use
them as pancake molds. Boo-ya! Photo
courtesy KodiakCakes.com.

If your pancakes don’t come out the way they like, pick up some tips from Joel, below.

What’s the difference between a pancake and a flapjack?

While there are many different types of pancakes, from thin crepes to aebleskivers, Danish pancakes in a ball-like shape, more like a muffin than our round, flat pancakes (see our Pancake & Waffle Glossary).

In North America, pancakes contain not just flour and water but a raising agent such as baking powder; plus eggs and and milk to create a thick batter. These flat but thick pancakes are also called flapjacks, griddlecakes and hotcakes

HOW TO MAKE PERFECT PANCAKES

Pancakes need to be made with the right ingredients and cooked the right way. We actually prefer whole grain pancake flour, which has more substance, more nutrition, more flavor and better texture than refined flour pancakes.

Tip 1: Don’t batter the batter. Batter should only be mixed enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Then stop mixing, even if you still have lumps. This is because flour contains gluten, a gluey protein that activates when it gets wet. If over-mixed, it becomes tough and rubbery. Don’t worry about the lumps. They’ll disappear when cooked.

Tip 2: Lay it on thick—or thin. Thinner batter gives the pancake a lighter texture, while thicker batter makes it more dense and heavy.

Tip 3: Add some fun to it. While not a requirement, stir-ins are a fun addition. Consider bananas, berries, chocolate chips, cinnamon and vanilla . On the savoy side, try crumbled bacon or diced sausage.

Tip 5: Measure, don’t guess. To make consistently shaped flapjacks, use a 1/3 or 1/4 cup measuring cup of batter.

Tip 6: Butter isn’t better. Make a small puddle of vegetable oil on the griddle and pour the batter directly into the middle of the puddle. The oil will surround the edges and make them crispy and tasty. Butter can burn on the pan and cause bitter specs of burnt butter to adhere to the pancake. Cooking spray is fine if you’re trying to keep it lean, but it doesn’t add flavor or make the edges crispy.

Tip 7: Don’t double flip. Flipping the pancake more than once creates a dry pancake. Flipping the pancake at the right time will help you avoid this temptation. Pancakes are ready to turn when the top is full of air holes and the sides start looking a bit dry. Peaking underneath a lifted edge will help you determine the proper flipping-time: Look for a nice golden brown color.

Follow these steps and you’ll have a perfect stack. Photo courtesy KodiakCakes.com.

Tip 9: Keep it hot. Who wants a cold flapjack? If you are cooking for a large group and can’t serve them hot off the griddle, the best way to keep pancakes warm is to place them, single-layered, on a cookie sheet in a warm oven. Do not stack them or cover them or they’ll become soggy.

Tip 10: Don’t short the stack. This means to never skimp on the toppings: real butter, warmed pure maple syrup, fresh berries, apple sauce, peanut butter, bananas or all of the above.

Now, you’re ready to flip a stack of super flapjacks. Say that fast three times!

HOW TO MAKE GHOST PANCAKES

1. Place pancake batter in a large plastic food storage bag. Seal the bag, push all of the batter to one end and cut the tip off of the plastic food storage bag.

2. Into a hot pan or skillet, fill cookie cutters with pancake mix. After the tops bubble, pull off the cookie cutters and flip the pancake.

3. Alternatively, you can make round or square pancakes, then use the cookie cutter to cut the shapes. This creates a lot of scraps, but the scraps are delicious with maple syrup; serve them for dessert with ice cream and syrup.
 
Find more of our favorite pancakes and other breakfast foods.

Basirion Rosso, a Gouda flavored with tomato
pesto. Photo courtesy iGourmet.com.

Cahill’s Farm Flavored Irish Cheddar.

English Cheddar With Harissa.

Extra Triple Aged Gouda.

Huntsman Cheese.

Mimolette.

Pecorino With Chile Flakes.

Saxonshire Cheese:

What do these cheeses have in common?

They all are visually on point for a Halloween cheese plate.

Check out all of these “Halloween cheeses” in detail. Thrill your guests with a colorful selection of these artisan cheese beauties.

FOCUS ON MIMOLETTE

Mimolette is a cow’s milk cheese, fascinating for its round ball shape and vibrant, harvest moon color (which comes from annatto).

The balls of Mimolette are aged from 6 to 18 months, during which the cheese is kept in a damp environment. There, thousands of microscopic cheese mites feed on the rind. This natural process gives the cheese its unique appearance, and also its unique flavor.

The younger varieties are comparable in taste and aroma to Parmesan. As the cheese ages, it takes on a chewier and harder texture and hints of butter and hazelnuts. The longer the cheese ages, the more we like it.

Mimolette lends itself well to dishes that call grated cheese: gratins, pastas, salads and soups, for example. It also makes a visual splash when you bring it to the table to grate.

Mimolette is a wonderful addition to the Halloween cheese plate. Serve it with apples or pears. For a wine pairing, try a dessert wine like moscato, sweet Riesling, port or sherry.

If you can’t find it locally, it’s easy to order Mimolette from ForTheGourmet.com.

Mimolette, another cheese the color of a harvest room. Get it from ForTheGourmet.com.

Are you scared into eating your fruit? Photo
courtesy PEEPS.

Just top fruit salad with vanilla yogurt or plain yogurt (we use Greek yogurt slightly sweetened with a no-cal sweetener).

Then, insert Ghost Marshmallow Peeps into the the topping. The dessert is officially haunted!

You can also use Ghost Peeps to make ghost pops, by inserting a lollipop stick or a Pocky chocolate-covered biscuit stick.

Or use the marshmallow spooks as cupcake toppers.

You can also “kill the ghost” in a cup of hot chocolate.

Share your favorite way to use Ghost Peeps!

The recipe is from Karo Syrup, which, along with its sister brand Fleischmann’s Yeast, is joining the fight against child hunger. This year Karo and Fleischmann’s have donated $200,000 to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign. Learn how you can help at NoKidHungry.org.

> The history of Rice Krispie Treats.

> The history of Rice Krispie Treats.

> The history of cereal.

> More Rice Krispie Treats Recipes.
 
 
RECIPE: HALLOWEEN RICE KRISPIE TREATS

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Chill Time: 45 minutes
Yield: about 24 treats

Ingredients

Make these special Rice Krispie Treats for Halloween. If you can’t easily pipe a spider’s web with frosting, use Halloween candies to decorate. Photo courtesy Karo Syrup.

1. COOK: Cook corn syrup and sugar together in a large pan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter; mix well. Add cereal; stir until evenly coated.

2. POUR. Pour mixture into greased 15 x 10-inch pan and pat into place.

3. MELT. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread over cereal.

4. COOL. Cool at least 45 minutes, or until firm. Cut into bars or fun shapes for Halloween.

5. DECORATE. If desired, pipe frosting to form Halloween shapes or the word BOO!
 
 
DECORATING IDEAS

Crazy Cats (in photo): Cut circles using a 2 to 3-inch biscuit cutter. Attach candies with a dab of melted white chocolate or frosting to make eyes, nose and ears. Pipe on whiskers with frosting.

Creepy Webs: Cut circles as above. Tint frosting orange. Starting at the center, pipe continuous spiral circles to edge. Drag the tip of a wooden pick from the center to the edge of the bar to create a spider web design.

Mummies: Cut circles as above. Drizzle or pipe white frosting back and forth horizontally and finish with two candy eyes.

Tombstones: Cut into bars, cutting off upper corners diagonally. Pipe frosting to make shapes or words on each “tombstone.” TIP: Tombstones will easily stand upright if the bottom of each is coated with frosting.

And save some for us!