Jack-o'-Lantern Deviled Eggs

A savory pumpkin and sage filling piped into a glowing pumpkin-orange mound, then decorated with a spooky jack-o'-lantern face and a crispy sage-leaf stem. Cute, eerie, and made to be decorated for the Halloween table.

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons pure pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika, plus a pinch to deepen the color
• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 black olive, thinly sliced (for jack-o'-lantern faces)
• 6 small fresh sage leaves (for stems)
• ½ tablespoon butter (for frying sage)

Instructions

1. Halve hard-boiled eggs and remove yolks. Mash yolks with mayonnaise, pumpkin purée, Dijon, chopped sage, smoked paprika, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and apple cider vinegar until completely smooth. Add a pinch more paprika until the filling glows a deep pumpkin orange.
2. Transfer the filling to a piping bag and pipe a smooth, rounded mound into each egg white so each looks like a little pumpkin.
3. Cut the olive slices into tiny triangles and jagged strips, then press them into each mound to form jack-o'-lantern eyes, nose, and a grinning mouth.
4. Fry the sage leaves in butter over medium heat for 10-15 seconds until crisp, drain on a paper towel, then tuck one at the top of each egg as a stem. Chill for 20 minutes before serving.

Tips

• Use pure pumpkin purée, not sweetened pie filling, so the flavor stays savory.
• For the spookiest set, cut all the olive faces first and keep the shapes consistent across the batch.
• A drop of annatto or an extra pinch of paprika gives the filling a more vivid Halloween-orange glow.
• Fried sage leaves soften over time, so add the stems within an hour of serving for the best crunch.