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Spell cast in caves for Halloween to ensure plentiful harvest of cheddar cheese for Christmas

The Witch of Wookey Hole and her two accomplices craft a potion, made with double portions of hand-made West Country Farmhouse Cheddar aged 200 feet underground in the Wookey Hole Caves, a sprinkling of cave dust, and a few drops of Beetle Juice for Halloween. The potion, cast with a bespoke spell, is designed to ward off evil forces from the caves on Halloween night in order to ensure a plentiful harvest of Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar for Christmas.  Mike Pullin from Ford Farm, where the cheese is made said: ‘Christmas is our busiest time of year and each traditional truckle maturing in the Caves is earmarked to go to retailers all over the UK in time for Christmas.  We have to make sure every truckle achieves absolute perfection and we’ll do everything we can to make this happen, even calling on the help of the Wookey Hole Witch and her team’. Once the spell has been cast, the potion, created by Cordon Bleu trained witch, Tanys Pullin, will be served up to staff and visitors to the Wookey Hole Caves.

The Spell
Double Double Toil and Trouble, Watch this cauldron bubble bubble. With a cheesy potion that’s cooking fast, Flavoured with cave dust from old times past, Let the spell we cast upon Cave Aged Cheddar, Make this potion taste even better. Sprinkle with a beetle’s blood. Then the charm is firm and good.

The recipe: Halloween Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar Potion (Makes up to 8 Litres of soup)

For the White Sauce
100g salted butter
100g plain white flour
3000ml whole milk

For the vegetable base
600ml white wine
350g of each of the following vegetables, cut into pieces: Cauliflower, Potato, Parsnip, Onion, Leek, Mushroom
400g butter
4 garlic cloves
6 vegetable stock cubes
Ikg Wookey Hole Grated Cheddar

Method
First create your white sauce base.  Melt the butter in a large (capacity 8 litres) saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook roux for 1-2 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and using a metal whisk gradually stir in the milk to create a smooth sauce.Simmer gently for 8-10 minutesWash, peel and chop the vegetables into small pieces and place in roasting pans along with 4 crushed garlic cloves,.  Crumble over the cheddar and the stock cubes and cover with cubes of the butter.Pour over the white wine and then bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until they are light, golden colour.Once the vegetables are cooked, add them to the pan with the white sauce.  Combine the white sauce base with the cheese and vegetable mix.If the soup is too thick add extra milk and season with salt and black pepper to taste. For a Halloween theme, add a few drops of red food colouring.