Haunted Mansion Mystery Night Theme: Food Ideas

 

HOR D’OEUVRES

  1. Coffin Crostini with Black Garlic & Goat Cheese

Appearance: Rectangular toasted bread shaped like coffins with white cheese filling and dark topping
Tray Setup: Placed on a slate board with parsley “moss” and mini tombstone markers
Ingredients:

  • 1 baguette (sliced diagonally)
  • Olive oil
  • 4 oz goat cheese
  • 2 tbsp cream cheese
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 3 black garlic cloves, mashed
  • Salt to taste

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. Brush baguette slices with olive oil and bake until golden (8–10 min).
  3. Mix goat cheese, cream cheese, thyme, and a pinch of salt.
  4. Spread cheese mixture on each crostini.
  5. Top with a swirl of mashed black garlic.
  6. Cut ends at slight angles to resemble coffin lids.
  1. Poison Apple Meatballs

Appearance: Glazed deep red meatballs with a dark drizzle
Tray Setup: Skewered on black picks, served in a cauldron-style bowl with dry ice mist
Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ground beef or pork
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup apple jelly
  • 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • Red food coloring (optional)

Steps:

  1. Mix meat, egg, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
  2. Roll into 1-inch balls and bake at 400°F for 15–18 min.
  3. In a saucepan, combine jelly, BBQ sauce, soy sauce, and a few drops of red coloring.
  4. Simmer and stir until smooth. Toss cooked meatballs in sauce.
  1. Severed Finger Pigs in a Blanket

Appearance: Mini sausages wrapped in dough, with slivered almond “nails” and ketchup “blood”
Tray Setup: Lined up on a cutting board with a “Butcher’s Tray” label
Ingredients:

  • 1 can crescent dough or puff pastry
  • 12 mini sausages
  • 12 slivered almonds
  • Ketchup

Steps:

  1. Cut dough into strips and wrap each sausage, leaving one end exposed.
  2. Press in an almond sliver at the exposed end for the fingernail.
  3. Bake at 375°F for 12–15 min.
  4. Drizzle ketchup at the cut ends for effect.

MAIN DISHES

  1. Blood-Red Beet Risotto with Charred Bones (Parmesan Breadsticks)

Appearance: Deep red creamy risotto with blackened breadsticks sticking up like bones
Tray Setup: Served in black shallow bowls with “bone” breadsticks leaning out
Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 4 cups warm chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 cup roasted beet puree
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • Salt and pepper
  • Breadstick dough or pizza dough
  • Olive oil and sea salt

Steps:

  1. Heat butter in a pan and toast rice for 1–2 min.
  2. Add wine and stir until absorbed.
  3. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly.
  4. When rice is tender, stir in beet puree and Parmesan.
  5. For breadsticks, shape dough into long bone-like forms, brush with oil, and bake at 400°F for 12–15 min until slightly charred.
  1. Stuffed “Ghoul” Peppers

Appearance: Bell peppers carved like jack-o’-lanterns, filled with meat and rice
Tray Setup: Arranged standing upright in a baking dish with smoky tomato sauce “fog” at the base
Ingredients:

  • 6 bell peppers (orange, red, green)
  • 1 lb ground beef or turkey
  • 1 cup cooked rice
  • 1/2 cup onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 tsp cumin, salt, pepper
  • Shredded cheese (optional)

Steps:

  1. Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds. Carve spooky faces into one side.
  2. Sauté beef, onion, and garlic until cooked.
  3. Stir in rice, tomatoes, and seasoning. Simmer 5 min.
  4. Stuff mixture into peppers. Top with cheese if desired.
  5. Bake at 375°F for 25–30 min.

DESSERTS / SWEETS

  1. Graveyard Chocolate Mousse Cups

Appearance: Cups with chocolate mousse, crushed Oreo “dirt,” and cookie tombstones
Tray Setup: Arranged in a shallow tray filled with more crushed cookies and candy bones
Ingredients:

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 4 oz dark chocolate, chopped
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • Crushed Oreos
  • Milano or rectangular cookies
  • Black icing gel for writing

Steps:

  1. Heat cream until just boiling, then pour over chopped chocolate. Let sit 1 min.
  2. Whisk until smooth, then cool slightly.
  3. Whip sugar and additional cream until soft peaks form. Fold into chocolate.
  4. Spoon into cups, chill 2 hours.
  5. Top with crushed Oreos. Write “RIP” on cookies and insert as tombstones.
  1. Bleeding Black Forest Mini Cakes

Appearance: Small round cakes with a dark exterior and cherry “blood” oozing out
Tray Setup: On silver trays with splattered cherry sauce and black lace doilies
Ingredients:

  • Chocolate cake batter (your favorite recipe)
  • Cherry pie filling
  • Whipped cream
  • Dark chocolate shavings

Steps:

  1. Bake batter in muffin tins or mini cake molds.
  2. Cool, then cut out centers and fill with cherry pie filling.
  3. Replace tops, pipe whipped cream on top, and garnish with chocolate shavings.
  4. Cut into one to reveal the bleeding center.
  1. Witch’s Finger Cookies

Appearance: Long, knobby sugar cookies with almond “nails” and red gel “blood”
Tray Setup: Served on a butcher-style tray with a vintage knife as prop
Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • Whole almonds
  • Red decorating gel

Steps:

  1. Beat butter and sugar. Add egg and extract.
  2. Stir in flour to form dough. Chill 30 min.
  3. Roll dough into finger shapes, press in almonds as nails.
  4. Bake at 350°F for 12–15 min.
  5. Once cool, add red gel around the almond and “knuckle” lines.

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