Looking for a super quick Halloween treat?  Mini Grasshopper pies are the answer!
My daughter Emily was going to a Halloween party last night, and wanted to take a treat that would look cool, taste great and be easy to transport to the party. I suggested cupcakes, but I got the eyeroll, and the “old hat” comment. Then she suggested grasshopper pie. I have no idea how she thought of it, as she wasn’t even born when grasshopper cocktails were a chic ladies drink, and its dessert offsider, grasshopper pie, were in vogue. Grasshopper pie is essentially a gelled chiffon mix, flavoured with the mint and chocolate liquors of the eponymous cocktail, frozen in a crumb base. I haven’t made this pie since the ’70’s, and back then I made it from scratch, but yesterday we needed something that we could get together fast, in time for the party

GRASSHOPPER MINI PIES
Yield; approx. 16 mini pies

16 Oreo biscuits (cookies)
36 large white marshmallows
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp. creme de cacao liquor
3 Tbsp. creme de menthe liquor (preferably green coloured)
1 1/2 cups cream
green food colouring (optional)
50 gms. (2 oz.) dark chocolate

Things to know: you need to use foil cupcake liners in this recipe, as paper ones will go soggy from the moisture in the pies. We used black ones for Halloween, but if you’re making these for another occasion, silver or green would look pretty. American readers can use half and half in place of the first measure of cream and milk.

Line 16 muffin tray cups with foil liners, and place a Oreo into each cup as the pie base. Put the marshmallows, the 1/2 cup of cream and the milk into a medium saucepan, and heat on low, stirring constantly, until the marshmallows are completely melted. Stir in the two liquors, and put aside to cool. You can speed this up by standing the pan in a sink of cold water. When the marshmallow mix is no longer hot to touch, whip the remaining cream to soft peaks, pour in the marshmallow mix, add optional green colouring, and whip again briefly until the cream and marshmallow are combined. Pour into the foil cups and rap lightly on the bench to level.
Put the chocolate into a disposable piping bag, or a small ziplock bag, and melt in the microwave in ten-second bursts, massaging the bag to help melt the chocolate evenly. Snip a small hole at the tip of the bag, (or the corner of the ziplock) and pipe a spiral of chocolate from the centre to the edge of a pie, and use a toothpick to drag the chocolate from the centre to the edge of the pie for web lines. Don’t try to pipe all the pies and then drag, as the chocolate sets  too quickly to do this. Freeze for two to three hours until firm.

Garnish with plastic spiders or flies!
These would also be lovely for a summer dessert, with its cool minty flavour, in which case I’d replace the spider web with chocolate shavings. The recipe is easily doubled if you’re serving a crowd, although you’ll need a large bowl to whip the cream in.
Happy and tasty Halloween, Dear Readers. Cheers from Karen.