Baking styling tips from a stylist

Spook up your Halloween cupcakes this year with some easily prepared chocolate spiders webs. Try microwaving NESTLÉ BAKERS' CHOICE White or Milk Choc Melts and pipe onto trays lined with baking paper into spider web shapes. When the chocolate webs have set, lift them gently using a spatula and place onto your iced cupcakes or muffins. White webs look great on the dark chocolate cakes. A few whisps of white fairy floss will add to the web-like feel.

Use a piping bag filled with strawberry syrup or jam to decorate your favourite cupcake, doughnut or mini pavlova recipe. Kids will enjoy squirting the oozy red blood into the sweet before taking a bite.

Witch’s hat cookies are a simple fun idea that the kids can help prepare. Use NESTLÉ BAKERS' CHOICE Milk Choc Melts to make the cones, then the little ones will love customising their own with coloured cake decorating gels, fondants and candy.

Sprinkle baked treats like gingerbread, cupcakes or slice liberally with totally on-trend edible glitter. If you’re adding food colouring to your cupcake frosting, glitter in the same colour will give the dish extra sparkle.

Brownies look spectacular when they’re marbled with some red, white and brown. Present in a mason jar with Halloween lollies for the ultimate Halloween gift.

Turn a regular trifle like this into something a little more spooky. Layer up orange and black lollies with layers of cake and whipped cream. Sprinkle cocoa on top of your trifle along with some crushed chocolate biscuits to create the look of soil and add biscuits shaped into headstones. Hey presto, graveyard trifle!

Pipe a dramatic spider’s web into a no-bake cheesecake or on top of a plain cake using buttercream or ganache. The less is more approach can be very bold and graphic especially in a classic black and white theme.

Mummy sausage rolls are easy to achieve by wrapping hot dogs or small sausages in thin strips of puff pastry. Serve with mustard dots for eyes and a spicy tomato sauce to dunk in.

Forget ghastly green this year! The on trend colours for ghouls and goblins are passionate purples and peachy oranges. You can’t go past the monochromatic blacks and whites either especially when paired with splashes of silver or red. Tie any lolly gifts or baked treats with raffia, string and a swing tag.

Pipe meringue into bone shapes and bake on a baking tray until crisp. Serve the bones on top of a shot glass of bright red velvet mousse for dipping or with melted chocolate if you like to make a mess. (Created with NESTLÉ BAKERS' CHOICE).