Halloween Skull Pizza

Cut fresh white button mushrooms in half lengthways, then place each half rounded side up. Use a metal number 12 round piping tip to cut two circular eye sockets. Gently twist the piping tip as you press it into the mushroom for a cleaner cut. Use a toothpick to make two small angled slits for the nose. Then make 4 to 5 short slits across the lower part of the stem to create the teeth details.

Make the cuts deep enough to be clearly visible but don't cut all the way through the mushroom. The heads soften and shrink slightly as they cook so slightly deeper details will give you a much better looking skull once the pizza comes out of the oven.

Fresh large white button mushrooms are the best choice from our experience. Their pale colour gives you the classic ghostly appearance while their firm texture makes them easier to carve without breaking.

Try to choose mushrooms that are roughly similar in size so your heads look consistent across the pizza. Larger mushrooms are particularly useful because they leave enough room for clearly defined eyes, nose and lower skull details.

Avoid canned mushrooms for this recipe. They tend to be smaller, softer and less suitable for carving detailed faces.

Yes. The mushroom skulls in this recipe can go directly onto the pizza without being cooked first. They will cook through while the pizza bakes.

The important thing is to keep them as dry as possible. Wipe the mushrooms clean rather than soaking them then leave the carved halves uncovered on kitchen paper for about 10 minutes before assembling the pizza. This helps reduce surface moisture.

For this easy ready made pizza version drying the mushrooms well is the simpler solution and avoids adding another cooking step. Remember we're trying to keep the recipe as simple and stress free as possible so you can enjoy the end result instead.

The easiest way is to control how much moisture goes onto the pizza before it goes into the oven.

Choose firm fresh mushrooms, wipe them clean rather than soaking them and leave the carved mushroom halves on kitchen paper for about 10 minutes. Drain the sweetcorn thoroughly and pat it dry if necessary too.

It also helps not to overload the pizza with toppings. You want enough mozzarella, sweetcorn and mushroom heads to make the pizza delicious and interesting but not so much that the surface becomes crowded and wet.

Most importantly put the heads on top of the cheese. This keeps them visible and helps prevent the cheese from hiding the carefully carved faces. This is exactly what we show in our recipe video on our Instagram page.

Start with large firm mushrooms and make the eyes and other details reasonably deep. Mushrooms naturally soften and shrink as they cook so very small mushrooms or very shallow cuts can disappear during baking.

Don't make the spooky faces too delicate. The number 12 piping tip should create substantial circular eye sockets while the toothpick are perfect for making nose and lower face marks.

It's also a good idea to arrange the heads with a little space between them rather than squeezing lots of them onto the pizza. This makes each face easier to see and gives the pizza a much more impressive Halloween appearance.

Add the fresh basil after the pizza comes out of the oven.

Baking fresh basil for the entire cooking time can make it dark, dry and much less fragrant. Adding it at the end allows the heat from the pizza to soften the leaves slightly while keeping their fresh flavour and green appearance.

For this particular pizza the timing also makes the finished Halloween design look much better. The white mushroom heads, golden sweetcorn and melted mozzarella are already quite simple visually, so the fresh green basil gives the pizza a little colour without competing with the faces.