Darina Allen: Barmbrack, bodice and meringue púcas for Hallowe'en

All round the country, shop windows are packed with tempting scary masks, ghoulish costumes and witches hats for Halloween parties and trick-or-treat forays around the neighbourhood.

Halloween púca meringues.

The spooky excitement continues to build and build. The hype around Halloween, love it or loathe it, is fast becoming as relentless as Christmas and just as commercial.

Children from our local schools have helped to harvest the pumpkins, a poor enough crop this year, but enough for my grandchildren and their friends to carve into lanterns and to make the scooped out innards into soup (don’t forget to add lots of finely chopped herbs or spices to bump up the flavour).