Food52's Best Halloween Treats: Salted Pumpkin Caramels & Tipsy Maple Corn

For the past year, Food52.com readers have been voting in weekly showdowns of reader-submitted recipes on a given theme. The winning recipes of each week will end up in Food52's upcoming cookbook, along with bios of the people who submitted them (Food52 explains the process in simple detail here).

Food52 and its co-founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs have invited HuffPost Food readers to vote on the contest for week 4 (of the second year, and the second book).

Week 6's showdown is for the best recipe for Halloween Treats.

Check the finalists out below, and vote for your favorite here.

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Salted Pumpkin Caramels

Photo: Sarah Shatz

Amanda and Merrill's notes on Salted Pumpkin Caramels on Food52.com:

Cheese1227's caramels really evoke the essence of fall, and her approach is elegant not heavy-handed. The earthiness of pumpkin, softened with cream, permeates each chewy bite, followed by a whisper of spice, and the delicate crunch of fleur de sel is a clever detail, offsetting the sweetness of the candy. The toasted pepitas are addictive even on their own (make sure to save some for the bottom of the baking dish!); they give each of the finished caramels a beautifully lacquered, dusty green cap. - A&M

View the Salted Pumpkin Caramels recipe here.

Vote for this recipe here.

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Tipsy Maple Corn

Photo: Sarah Shatz

Amanda and Merrill's notes on Tipsy Maple Corn on Food52.com:

We were initially seduced by "tipsy" in the title, but once we tried thirschfeld's recipe, we fell in love with much more than the Jack-Daniels-infused syrup. There are the peanuts (we used dry roasted) and the tiny dots of pancetta -- neither of which stoops to merely accessorizing the corn. The nuts give the treat heft, the pancetta salt and richness. The most important step is the oven-crisping. Be careful not to burn the edges and don't worry if the popcorn isn't totally crisp when you take it out of the oven -- it will continue to firm up as it cools. We loved this as a Halloween treat, but it would be just as delicious paired with a good movie. - A&M

View the Tipsy Maple Corn recipe here.

Vote for this recipe here.

Comments

[way2muchsense]

08:23 AM on 10/25/2010

I wish I didn't live in the middle of nowhere around this time of year, mainly because we haven't seen a Trick or Treater in over a decade. Not a single one. We're just too far out of the way.

That said, I think I would make my own treats, and to ensure they don't end up in the garbage can at the behest of paranoid parents, I would label them. I think that would work. "Oh, this came from the Smiths; it's OK." At least, the percentage of such treats that did end up in the trash would be somewhat less than an unidentified candy apple, to the extent that our house is well-known in the neighborhood.

I would say it matters less in any case, since nobody lets their kids trick or treat by themselves anymore. It's sad, really.

[BadBadKitty]

07:53 AM on 10/23/2010

Tempting...
but then, Im stoned right now...

[gevan]

03:49 PM on 10/23/2010

Hopefully not in the Biblical sense.

[Finnegans Wake]

11:42 AM on 10/26/2010

I wasn't stoned before I looked at these...


Arrrrrlrlrlrllllllgggggghhhhh...

[powerhuff]

06:14 AM on 10/23/2010

TIPSYU MABLE CORM

[Bucket-Of-Love]

12:44 AM on 10/23/2010

Man, I bet the pumpkin caramels are realllly good.

[VijiFoodRecipes]

12:18 AM on 10/23/2010

Tasty All Food Recipes... Log On: [Viji's Food Recipes] http://www.freefoodrecipe.wordpress.com

[Benjo333]

07:45 PM on 10/22/2010

I love salt carmel...salt carmel ice cream...yum.

[kareemachan]

12:57 PM on 10/24/2010

Haagen Daaz briefly had a salt caramel ice cream - to DIE for!

[Pleroma]

07:04 PM on 10/24/2010

Haagen-Dasz used to make good ice cream. Not any more!