Parties with a Twist of Murder!
Parties with a Twist of Murder!

Food Ideas: 1960s Murder Mystery Party

Make-Ahead 1960s Party Food

Food and drink from different parties for our 60s murder mystery. Top-left photo = fab buffet. Bottom-left photo = cocktails. Right photo = cheesecake decorated with the peace sign and edible rice paper flowers.
Starters and canapes for our 60s mystery game. Left photo = prawn cocktail starter. Middle photo = cheese and pineapple on sticks. Top-right: cheese fondue. Bottom-right: cheese and pinapple on sticks and miniature meatballs.

Hosting a 60s Murder Mystery - Other Helpful Ideas

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Last Updated on November 1st, 2024

Use these recipe ideas to make your Swinging Sixties murder mystery party extra groovy.

Most recipe ideas are designed to be largely make-ahead so that you can enjoy the mystery game alongside your guests and not disrupt the party with lengthy spells in the kitchen.

1 1960s Party Food

1.1 Give Ordinary Food a Groovy Name

Try adding a 60s vibe to ordinary food by changing the name:

Or add the name of one of the game characters to a dish:

1.2 Decorate Ordinary Food in a Groovy Way

60s-style buffet
One of our customers threw this fab-looking 60s-style buffet.
Note the colorful heart shaped cookies and the flower-shape on top of the mousse.

The hippie influence of the 60s means that peace signs, flowers, hearts, and butterflies can add a 60s vibe to even ordinary food. Or use colors such as pink, orange, green, turquoise, red, and purple to make your food outta sight. Or make food into the shapes of retro items such as records.

A few suggestions:

Trifle decorated 60s style with hearts and edible flowers
Trifle is decorated with 60s style hearts and edible flowers made from rice paper.
Hearts are formed out of piped whipped cream colored with food coloring.

1.3 Starters

 The Sixties was the decade of the cocktail parties, and anything with cocktail sticks was a hit. Try:

Different versions of cheese on cocktail sticks
Three customers served their variation of cheese on cocktail sticks

Food in "blankets" (bacon) was also hugely popular during the decade.  Optionally add a cocktail stick to the following:

Other options for starters:

As an extra to many of these dishes, try some crisps introduced during the Sixties:

Prawn cocktail
Prawn cocktail with crusty bread and butter

1.4 Mains

Swedish-style meatballs with grape jelly or lingonberry jam

Chicken à la King

Beef bourguignon

Shepherd's Pie

Duck a l'orange

Pineapple Meatballs

Steak and kidney pudding

Ham baked with pineapple

Oxtail stew

Meatloaf

Liver and onions

Meat or fish in a jelly mould with aspic

1.5 Desserts

You could keep desserts very simple and yet still bring back memories for those old enough to remember the decade. Serve a plate of Mr Kipling's French Fancies, a bowl of Angel Delight, or an Arctic Roll. 

Cupcakes with cupcake toppers and chocolate hearts.
Cupcakes with cupcake toppers provided in the game's decoration pack.
Chocolate hearts were also added.

1.6 Drinks

Cocktails such as Whiskey Sour, Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Sidecar, Bloody Mary, Martini or Gimlet.

Babycham

Teas and coffees could be served with the height of 60s sophistication - the "new" After Eights.

Cocktails at a customer's party
Cocktails served at a customer's mystery party.

2 Our 60s Murder Mystery Test Party - Menu and Timings

For our first murder mystery party, we were catering for 14 people. We opted for food that was popular in the 1960s and chose options that we could make ahead so we could concentrate on enjoying the party.  

Starters

A choice of prawn cocktail, egg mayonnaise or shop pate. We served these with crusty bread.

Timings: We prepared these 2-3 hours before the party and kept the plates in the fridge. We sliced the crusty bread before the party and kept it cling-filmed. We put the butter in a butter dish to soften just before the party. At the end of round two, all we had to do was put the plates and the bread and butter on the table.

Mains

We opted for shepherd's pie as we could make this in advance and it was easy to serve a large number. We made both a normal and a vegetarian option. We served this with spiced red cabbage and peas.

Timings: We made the shepherd's pies and the red cabbage dish the night before and placed them in the fridge. We brought them to room temperature just before guests arrived and placed them in the oven at the end of the starters. At the end of the starters, we also boiled a full kettle of water. (This saved time when serving the main course.) At the end of round 4, we re-boiled the kettle of water and used this to steam the peas for 3-4 minutes. As the peas were steaming, guests were moving from the lounge to the dining room and getting themselves drinks.

Desserts

Lemon cheesecake or sherry and raspberry trifle. We served these with teas or coffees and that finale to posh 1960s dinner parties: After Eights.

Timings: we made the base and middle layers of both desserts the night before. On the afternoon of the party, we whipped the cream and added this to the top of the trifle. We also added sour cream to the top of the cheesecake. Shortly before the party, we added the berries to the top of the trifle and then swirled in lemon curd to the top of the cheesecake.

Note: had I thought of it at the time, I would have piped the lemon curd on the cheesecake in the shape of a peace sign and added colored cream to the top of the trifle in the shape of a heart. (See photos in section 1.2 above and section 2.2 below for how simple decorations can make such a difference to the cheesecake and trifle. Note that the same trifle and cheesecake recipes were used.)

Food we served at our first test party
Food we served at our first test party.
Top left: prawn cocktail with crusty bread.
Top-right: shepherd's pie.

2.2 Party Menu 2: Buffet Food Presented With a 60s Vibe

Buffet Mains

Devilled eggs with multicolored egg whites.

Selection of sandwiches cut into heart and flower shapes using cookie cutters.

Cheese and pineapple on sticks - with additional Maraschino cherries, mini Silverskin onions and cherry tomatoes.

Salmon mousse with a peace sign added on top with cucumber slices; crudities arranged in a flower shape around the central bowl.

Cream cheese dip with cheddar, mustard, and vegetarian bacon bits.

Watermelon cut into hearts and flower shapes with mint and balsamic dressing.

Lemon cookies cut into heart and flower shapes and then decorated with bright icing.

Pink champagne cake decorated with berry hearts and a peace sign.

Cheesecake decorated with a peace sign made out of piped lemon curd. Edible rice paper flowers were used as decoration.

Note: I added the edible rice paper flowers at the last minute to avoid the liquid in the sour cream making the flowers soggy.

For drinks, I kept things simple and chose a personal favorite of mine: Babycham.

Cheesecake decorated with a peace sign
Lemon cheesecake covered with sour cream.
A peace sign was piped on with lemon curd then edible rice paper flowers were added.

3 Other Hosts' Food

3.1 Dinner Party for 6

Bonnie ran our Swinging Sixties murder mystery as one of her monthly "Dinner With Friends" meetings. She served:

Bonnie's dinner party food = cheese fondue, steak Diane, cherries Jubilee with homemade ice cream and a shortbread cookie
Bonnie's dinner party food.
Top = cheese fondue.
Bottom-left = Steak Diane with roasted vegetables.
Bottom-right: Cherries Jubilee with home-made ice cream and shortbread cookie.
Cherries were flambéed at the table in front of guests.

3.2 Vegan Pot Luck Buffet for 14 - 60s Style

Kelsi hired a beach house for her husband's 30th birthday and ran our mystery game as a focal point of the weekend. She asked each guest to bring a vegan version of the following dishes.

Buffet

Impossible Swedish meatballs 
Vegan shrimp cocktail 
Jello mould cake 
Macaroni or Macaroni salad 
Stuffed mushrooms 
Cobb salad
Braised dill potatoes
Fruit salad 
Vegan pigs in a blanket
Veggie antipasto platter 
Biscuits 
Citrus-avocado spinach salad
Asparagus roll-ups 
Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Drinks

Espresso Martinis 
Old Fashioned 
Vodka Gimlet
Mint Julep
Sidecar

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Important Disclaimers

These ideas are provided for your inspiration only. Any recipes or recipe ideas should be tested before your party. Ideas for party recipes, decorations or costumes should be adapted as you wish. It is YOUR responsibility to follow any necessary safety precautions.