Spooky season is almost here, and fans of the ghostly and ghoulish are more than ready to bring that energy into every room of their house. Devilish decor, creepy costumes, and with the help of Cayla Gallagher’s new book, Ghost Food: 75 Spooky, Fun, and Frightening Halloween-Inspired Sweet Treats, spooky recipes to set a thrilling Halloween table! We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Cayla to talk about her latest collection of baking tricks, tasty treats, and how to make the Halloween season even sweeter.
About Cayla Gallagher
Cayla Gallagher is the host and creator of the YouTube channel pankobunny, an online cooking show where she creates weekly tutorials, teaching her subscribers how to turn everyday recipes into “edible cuteness” — colorful, eye‑catching treats! With an audience of more than 300,000 followers across her social media platforms and more than 300 million views on Facebook, she strives to bring amusement and creativity to tables all over the world. Cayla is also the author of Unicorn Food, Spooky Food, Reindeer Food, and Mermaid Food. She resides in Toronto.
Thank you so much for joining us, Cayla! Let’s get cooking!
For those unfamiliar with your popular Whimsical Treats cookbook series and pankobunny YouTube channel, can you describe your food philosophy when it comes to whipping up recipes?
I am someone who loves to make everything in my life as cute and aesthetically pleasing as possible. This also applies to my cooking, which I like to call “edible cuteness”! To me, it’s absolutely worth taking a couple of extra minutes to transform a standard recipe into something that brings smiles to people’s faces. It’s such a simple way to add a little extra joy to life!
However, I am also a stickler for quality. The last thing I want is for someone to be underwhelmed after excitedly taking a bite of a cute treat that I made, so I make sure that while my recipes are cute, they are backed up with amazing flavor and texture.
Ghost Food is your eighth cookbook and the second that has been spooky-themed. What made you want to return to a recipe collection centered around Halloween?
Halloween is such a fun holiday, and I felt like I only scratched the surface of recipe ideas with my first Halloween cookbook, Spooky Food. I really wanted to dig deeper into the holiday, so I even structured the chapters of Ghost Food into fun Halloween themes, like “Pumpkin Patch” and “Haunted Mansion.”
Take us through the process of developing a new recipe. How do you invent your culinary creations from conception to realization?
I have an ongoing list of recipes on my phone that I add to whenever I feel inspired. Inspiration comes from discovering new flavor combinations, seeing a fun cake pan, or coming across an ingredient and wondering how I could incorporate that into a recipe. I add all of my ideas to this list, then when it comes time to make them, I break the recipe into components.
For example, if it requires a cake base, I first narrow down the flavor of the cake. Do I already have a good cake recipe in this flavor? If not, do I need to build one from scratch, or can I tweak a recipe that I already have? Once I have the individual components of the recipe decided, I plan out how best to combine all these elements to create the recipe that I see in my mind.
For example, my Jack-o-Lantern Cheesecake has a purple Rice Krispies treat crust. I love the added crunch that the Rice Krispies treats give the cheesecake, but because it is more porous than a standard graham cracker crust, I had to spread a layer of melted white chocolate between the crust and the cheesecake filling to prevent the crust from getting too soggy. And when it comes time to decorate, I can only hope that my hands are steady enough to achieve all the little details that I’ve pictured in my mind!
What is the recipe that readers absolutely must try from this new book for the killer taste and/or aesthetics?
The recipe that brings me the most joy from this book is my Stuffed Skull Marshmallows recipe! They are homemade vanilla marshmallows in a 3D skull shape. What’s even cooler is that they are filled with raspberry jam. When you bite into a marshmallow, it looks like its brains are oozing out! I think that they are such a fun, unique Halloween treat that are perfectly served alongside a mug of hot chocolate and a spooky Halloween movie.
Your cookbooks are all about bringing fun and whimsy to the kitchen, and have a big appeal to kids who are chefs-in-training. Was this intentional, or a happy accident?
This was a very happy accident! I’ve always just made what makes me smile, and I’ve come to learn that my taste in cooking is very much in line with little kids, which I find so amusing. While shooting my cookbook, Dragon Food, I brought my purple 3-D Dragon Cake to a family potluck, simply because it was what I had on hand and I figured that hey, it’s cake and everyone likes cake! I saw a flock of children running over to the cake, and the joy on their faces was adorable! It has brought me even more joy in baking now, picturing their excitement and hoping to top it every time I bring a cake to a family occasion.
You’ve had a bit of an unconventional road to becoming a content creator and cookbook author, and talk about moments of self-doubt in the author bio page on your website. What advice would you give to young people who are considering taking a career risk to follow their passion?
I think that it’s very important to have a clear idea of what your goals are, but to leave room for flexibility on HOW you’ll get there. Every industry is different, and as you chase your goals, opportunities might arise that you didn’t expect. If an opportunity is a little different from your original goal but deep in your gut, it feels like the right move, go for it! It’s also very important to know what is trending and popular in the industry that you’re in, but be sure to establish your own voice and style. This is how people will come to recognize you and differentiate your brand from others. Your uniqueness is an asset.
Who are your biggest influences in the kitchen, from famous faces to lesser-known mentors?
I grew up watching Martha Stewart and loved her classic approach to cooking. Her recipes can be quite involved, but they always turn out so beautifully. Rosanna Pansino was also a huge influence when I started my YouTube channel because of her cute recipes and upbeat attitude.
Lastly, in honor of Ghost Food, if you could invite any three ghosts — real or fictional — to a dinner party, who would they be and what would you serve?
As a Pokémon fan, I would have to invite some ghost-type Pokémon! I would invite Pumpkaboo, Sinistea, and Marshadow because they are the cutest! Pokémon like to eat Pokébeans, and I imagine that the ghost-type Pokémon would want something light and not too heavy, so I would make some homemade Pokébeans out of meringue. Maybe add a touch of pumpkin spice for some festive flavor and serve some poached pears or apples as a fruity, autumnal side.
A heaping thank you to Cayla for taking the time to share her work and insights with us! Be sure to find her online at Pankobunny.com and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter/X, and YouTube. And, of course, don’t forget to check out Ghost Food and add it to your reading list!
To check out more of our exclusive talks with authors, check out our entire One-on-One Interview series!
To see all of our recommendations for creative culinary cookery, check out our Bookshop bookshelf.
