Halloween Meal – Quesadillas Decorated Using A Stencil

Make some of these Halloween Meal – Quesadillas Decorated Using A Stencil! They add such fun to a simple treat and are great appetizers for any event!

The first week of October, I went on my annual Halloween shopping excursion in search of new and exciting props and party supplies for our annual bash. Six hours and 20 stores later my trunk only held three full shopping bags plus one new prop. I was disappointed, to say the least, at how little Halloween merchandise was stocked on the shelves of the stores this year.  I couldn’t even find a wizard costume for my husband which totally shocked me, so I had to order one on-line along with some other decorations.

Fortunately, I can always count on the craft stores to carry a nice selection of Martha Stewart Halloween products, and this year I purchased a few items including a package of cake stencils. I knew I could use one of the stencils which features two witches standing around a cauldron this year and the others featuring a snake, spider, and bat later on. After looking on the Internet this morning for an image of this particular package of stencils, I found that they come out with new designs every year. So, if you would like a different stencil design, do a quick search to find a nice variety of stencils. I might order a few more myself.

Stencils can make creating themed cuisine so easy and I have used them quite often.

Last year for my Hungry Halloween blog, I painted a tortilla with food coloring and with food coloring spray using a stencil of Edward Cullen from Twilight to make a chicken and cheese quesadilla.  I also used a stencil to cut a werewolf image out of an Oreo and cream cheese dough for a Halloween cheesecake and made my Frankenstein monster dip by sprinkling crushed blue corn tortilla chips over a stencil.  So many fun uses for a craft supply in the kitchen.

After posting the Twilight Quesadilla recipe, I received some comments about the excessive amount of food coloring used, so I thought I’d re-visit that recipe today. On the package of Martha Stewart cake stencils, it shows how you can sprinkle powdered sugar or cocoa powder over the stencil onto a dessert, but I wanted to put the image on a tortilla filled with savory ingredients, so I searched through my pantry and decided to try using chili powder with hopes that the spice wouldn’t be too strong. Happily it worked great.  I just made a simple cheese quesadilla and really liked the addition of the spice. For our party I will fill them with additional ingredients like chicken, taco meat, refried beans, etc.  Anything you like in a quesadilla or Mexican pizza will work. You could try other spices and flavor combinations, if you are a bit more adventurous and any stencil will work for this edible craft.

Halloween Meal – Quesadillas Decorated Using A Stencil

Ingredients (per quesadilla):

2 large 10″ tortillas
4 ounces cheese (and/or chicken, taco meat, refried beans, etc.)
egg wash (whisk 1 teaspoon water into one large egg)
chili powder

Special Equipment Needed:

Halloween stencil
pastry brush
fine mesh sieve
baking sheet lined with tin foil or parchment paper

Instructions:

Set stencil over tortilla. Carefully brush egg wash over stencil.

Pour chili powder into a fine mesh sieve. Sprinkle the chili powder lightly over the stencil. Carefully lift the stencil off the tortilla.

Use a dry pastry brush to brush off any excess chili powder.

Set a plain tortilla on a baking sheet and fill it with cheese etc. Set stencilled tortilla on top. Bake in an oven at 400 degrees for 5-8 minutes until golden brown and heated through, or place in toaster oven and toast until golden brown. I don’t recommend heating them in a skillet with oil as the image will smear. Serve immediately.

For a party, you can decorate your tortillas ahead of time, store them in a zip top bag, fill them before the party, refrigerate for up to a few hours, bake and serve during the party.

Be sure to check out all the Halloween recipes here on Hungry Happenings.