How do we celebrate Halloween in the Netherlands?

In this blog you can see how we celebrate Halloween here in the Netherlands. The scariest decorations you can find, we have them here.
It is one of the most fun times of the year – just like Christmas – because people dress up in the most monstrous and scary costumes. Children are usually the ones who enjoy these parties the most.
Do you want to know more about how we celebrate it here in the Netherlands? Stay and watch this:

This Halloween, enjoy like never before. We will show you how Halloween is celebrated here, with the best costume parties.

We have a day different from the others, and it is that on November 11, we celebrate the feast of St. Martin. For you to understand its origin I am going to explain a beautiful legend:

In the middle of a stormy winter night, Martin met a beggar shivering with cold. Kindly, he offered him the only thing he had on him, a piece of bread and half of his cloak, which was from the Roman army.

The next day, Jesus Christ appeared to him with half of the cloak to thank him for the gesture. Since then, Martin decided to leave the army and convert. Some time later he was appointed Bishop of Tours. And this was the beginning of this Catholic feast, celebrating a beautiful message: sharing with others.

Why is the idea of asking for candy so famous?

Children have the fun custom of trick-or-treating on Halloween. In their schools they prepare crafts, murals and related activities. They also tell scary stories and sing songs and poems that they then sing in the street or recite to their families in exchange for candy.

It is not the same as in the United States; children do not usually go from door to door in the neighborhood asking for candy. But it does happen, depending on what area of Holland you’re in. However, they do not usually dress up and instead they only use masks.

The best part of it all, is to see the excitement that the children have when they receive candy and the happiness of the adults when they give that candy. Halloween is not only about terror and scares, but also about giving happiness to the little ones and having fun with them.

Is Halloween in the Netherlands also celebrated on October 31?

For a few years now Halloween is also celebrated on October 31. Due to the appearance of this holiday in many famous movies and series, it has been adapted to most European countries.

There are different parties and festivals related to this celebration. This month is not very good for sightseeing because of the bad weather, but if you are passionate about Halloween and you still want to visit Holland, you can enjoy its many costume parties.

There are many parties with the theme of this celebration. For example, the youth tend to go to parties where they dress up in more elaborate ways, focusing on scarier or more provocative themes. Definitely not childish.

HALLOWEEN SWEETS

People also really enjoy making candy and recipes – both savory and sweet – for Halloween. There are many ways to turn a normal recipe into something fun and original, with just a few changes.

This time of the year is perfect to bring out the baker in us. We put our creativity to the test, with super original ideas in foods or fruits that we usually eat, but this time in a more terrifying way.

Interested in learning how to make your recipes spookier? Stay and see some of the recipes we have prepared for you.

Chocolate mousse:

Preparation:

1. Remove the cream from the Oreo cookies.
2. Heat 50 ml of heavy cream together with the cookie cream. Mix. When it reaches the first boil, remove and add the chopped dark chocolate and reserve some of it.
3. Whip the remaining cream until almost completely whipped. Take two tablespoons of cream, add it to the chocolate and integrate. Transfer all the preparation to the bowl with the remaining cream. Mix with gentle movements.
4. Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture. Serve in glasses or cups. Crush the remaining cookies and place them on top of the mousse to simulate cemetery soil.
5. To make the tombstone, melt another piece of chocolate and, using a kitchen brush, write “R.I.P.” on the cookies. Let cool to harden. Place the cookies vertically on the mousse.

Spider cake pops

Preparation:

1. Crush the Oreo cookies until they are powdered. No need to remove the cream.
2. Mix the cookies with the cream cheese until a homogeneous paste is formed.
3. Form small balls of the same size and insert a wooden stick in the center. Place in the freezer for half an hour.
4. Make eyes with white fondant and place them on the spiders.
5. Attach the legs of the spiders with fondant dyed black. Make a black dot to give more life to the eyes of your spiders.

Decorated Halloween cookies

Preparation:

1. Follow the steps in our shortbread cookie recipe to prepare the dough for the decorated Halloween cookies. Shape them into a circle and bake them at 180 ºC for 10-15 minutes.
2. Let them cool. Roll out the orange fondant with a rolling pin. Add a few drops of orange food coloring until the desired shade is obtained.
3. Using a cookie cutter, cut circles of fondant the same size as the cookies.
4. Dip your fingertips in water and lightly dab the cookie. Place the fondant paste on top and stick it with your fingers.
5. Mark the lines of the pumpkin with a knife and draw curved lines starting from the top of the cookie.
6. Roll out the black fondant and, with the same knife, cut two triangles for the eyes. Draw the mouth as you prefer.
7. Glue the eyes and mouth to the pumpkin.
8. If you have green fondant, you can use it to make a small churro and place it on the cookie to simulate a leaf.

Brownie decorated for Halloween

Preparation:

1. Prepare all the ingredients to prepare the brownie in the shape of a coffin.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate in a bain-marie, stir until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. Set aside.
3. Separately, beat the eggs with the sugar until completely integrated. You can do this with either hand or electric beaters.
4. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate. It is important that the chocolate is cold when you add the beaten eggs. Integrate very well.
5. Add the previously sifted flour and beat until you obtain a homogeneous mixture. In this step we recommend the use of manual beaters, with electric beaters the flour is likely to spread everywhere, staining the kitchen and your clothes.
6. Pour the chocolate brownie mixture into the pan and bake at 180ºC for 15 minutes.
7. When ready, let it cool. Remove it from the mold and with the help of a knife cut the coffins to the size you want. Remember to cut off the two upper ends to give it the correct shape.

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