Bonfire Night 2019 recipes – from s’mores dip and Parkin cake to toffee apples and toad-in-the-hole

BONFIRE Night is here and the occasion is the perfect chance to snuggle up, watch the fireworks and tuck into some delicious festive treats.

Here are some tasty recipe ideas for your Guy Fawkes' party this year...

What Bonfire Night recipes are there?

Toffee Apples – serves 8

Push lolly sticks through the stalk-end of the apple and make sure they are firmly wedged in.

Put 400g of caster sugar into a saucepan and add 1tbsp of lemon juice and 100ml of water. Simmer until sugar has dissolved.

Swirl the pan to move the sugar but don’t stir. Next add in 4tbsp of golden syrup and bubble the mixture ensuring it doesn’t boil over.

The toffee will be done when it reaches 150C on a sugar thermometer or if you drop a small amount into cold water it should harden instantly and be brittle when removed.

Swirl in some food colouring and then turn off the heat when done.

Dip each apple into the toffee and ensure each is covered completely. Eat on the same day for best results.

S’mores dip – serves 8

Heat 200g of milk chocolate, 2 tbsp milk and 200g of marshmallows in a frying pan at a low heat until melted and smooth.

Place 150g of marshmallows on the top of the chocolate mix so the whole surface is covered.

Put pan under grill for one to two minutes until the marshmallows are toasted. Serve between digestives or use strawberry skewers for dunking.

For full recipe, click here. 

Parkin – serves 16

Heat your oven to 140C fan/gas 3.

Next grease a deep cake tin and line with baking paper, and then beat one large egg with 4 tbsp of milk.

Melt 200g of golden syrup, 85g of treacle, 85g of light brown sugar and 200g of butter in a pan, until the sugar has fully dissolved.

Take off the heat. Next mix 100g of oatmeal with 250g of self-raising flour, 1 tbsp of ginger and then stir into the syrup mixture, and then add the milk and egg.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for around an hour or until the cake feels firm.

Cool the tin and wrap in foil for three to five days to make it soft and sticky.

Camembert fondue – serves 4

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4 and unwrap the camembert from its plastic wrapping.

Put it back in the cardboard box with the lid off and place on a baking sheet.

Slice and peel two garlic cloves and slot the sections of garlic into the cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until it feels soft. Then dip in crusty bread.

Pulled pork wraps – serves 16 buns

Heat the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2 and rub 2kg of pork with 2tbsp of olive oil.

Heat a pan until hot and then sear the pork until brown.

Place meat on a wire rack in a roasting tin, and brush with a mix of 2tsp of paprika, garlic, salt and black pepper.

Add a cup of water to the roasting tin and cover with foil, and then cook for five hours.

Drain the juices from the meat into a mug and shred the pork using two forks.

Remove the fat from the juices. Add 4tbsp of BBQ sauce to 125ml of the juices, and then pour over the meat.

Add to bun and serve when you need.

Toad-in-the-hole - serves 4

Preheat the oven to 220C and heat 1.5tbsp of lard in pan on a medium heat.

Cook sausages until they are brown on both sides.

Beat two eggs in a bowl with a whisk until thick, and beat in 100g of plain flour and 85ml of milk until smooth.

Stir in 85ml of ale and 1tbsp of mustard. Leave to sit for 15 minutes.

Put 1.5tbsp of lard in a roasting tin and pre-heat in the oven.

Add fat from sausage pan to the tin, followed by the batter. Then add the sausages.

Bake in the oven for 35 mins until dish has risen and is golden. Serve with gravy and peas.

Sticky toffee popcorn – serves 6

What better way to enjoy the fireworks or snug TV evenings than with a bowl of sweet popcorn?

Add a 1tbsp of oil to a saucepan and add in 75g of popping corn and swirl to coat.

Cover with a lid until the corns have popped.

Meanwhile melt 50g of butter, 100g of light brown sugar and 2tbsp of golden syrup in a separate pan until butter has melted.

Increase the temperature and bubble for one to two minutes. Pour over popcorn and stir to coat the kernels.

Why do we celebrate Bonfire Night?

Bonfire Night is celebrated in the UK by the lighting of bonfires, the burning of "Guys" and the setting off of fireworks.

The celebration was actually enshrined in law a few months after the attempt and remained on the statute books until 1859.

Fireworks are also set off throughout the land as they are powered by gunpowder, representing the explosives that were never used.

The only place in the UK that does not celebrate the day is Fawkes' former school, St Peter's in York. They refuse to burn a "Guy" out of respect for one of their own.

Yeoman of the guard search the cellars of the Houses of Parliament before the state opening in November.

However, it is a ceremonial gesture rather than an actual terrorist hunt – they even use old lanterns.

The actual cellar that Fawkes and his co-conspirators tried to blow up no longer exists, being destroyed in a fire in 1834.