Halloween Cake

Trick or Treat?! 

...obviously treat.

It is that time of year, I'm carving out my pumpkin today (better late than never) & try to avoid eating all of the treats ready for umpteen village children to come trick-or-treating! It might just have to be a trick if I get hungry...

The best bit of news for me in recent happenings is that I was offered a job! I can't quite get over it yet, still in disbelief and exhausted at the thought of how much I have to organise! Mind you I love to organise and as HRH Prince Charles noted, us Brits are pretty good at Organising things. 

Here is my nod to Halloween...

You will need to follow the Chocolate, Coffee & Nutmeg Cake Recipe or the Chocolate Cake Recipe as a base, then follow the icing instructions as follows.

You will need the following:

Icing

300g Icing Sugar

100g Crème Fraiche

1Tsp Camp Coffee

1Tsp Vanilla Extract

50g Granulated Brown Sugar

Webbing

25g Dark Chocolate

2Tsp Warm Water

Method:

Melt your chocolate chips with the water, stir once melted

Cut a circle out of greaseproof paper, fold it in half, then half again, and once more. 

Push the creases towards one another to form a cone 

Snip the bottom off  & spoon in the chocolate. Fold over the top

Get your iced cake

Pipe five rough circles

Using a wooden kebab skewer or sharp knife, starting at the centre of your cake drag the skewer or knife to the edges of your cake, until you have a spiders web

Enjoy...

Chocolate, Coffee & Nutmeg Cake

Serves 12

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Bake to perfection for 24-26 minutes

You will need the following:

Cake

225g Butter

150g Golden Caster Sugar

75g Dark Muscavado Sugar

4 Eggs

175g Self Raising Flour

50g Cocoa Powder

1Tbsp Baking Powder

1Tbsp Ground Coffee + 4Tbsp Hot Water

1Tsp Ground Nutmeg

1 Drop of  Vanilla Extract

Icing

300g Icing Sugar

100g Crème Fraiche

1Tsp Camp Coffee

1Tsp Vanilla Extract

50g Granulated Brown Sugar

Method:

Dissolve your coffee in the water

Cream together your butter and sugars

Add in your eggs one at a time, followed by the coffee

Sift in your cocoa powder and then fold in

Sift in your flour and nutmeg & fold into the mix 

Grease your tins then line the bottom with greaseproof paper

Pour your mix into two 8" cake tins & bake for 24-26 minutes

Whilst baking make your icing

In a bowl place the crème fraiche, camp coffee and vanilla extract 

Then add your sugar 

Until combined

 Sift in the icing sugar

Remove your cakes from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes

Peel off the greaseproof paper

Level off the base layer and spoon on a large spoon for icing 

Smooth out over your cake 

Repeat with the top layer 

Enjoy with a cup of fresh coffee...

Aumtumn's Cake

So I utterly failed to post every day during National Baking Week ... life got rather busy on Friday and then Saturday I was off to the land of the far South West and Cream Teas, Cornwall. I have had the most peaceful week walking the dogs around the Lanhydrock Estate, enjoying the sunshine visiting port towns and eating too many cream teas; I am avoiding standing on the scales!! Obviously the internet is slower & sketchier in Cornwall, must be the fact that it is further away from London or something like that?! My friend seems to have the same problem with her internet ... in far south west Wales; geographically roughly the same ... could be valid!!

Here is my ode to Autumn. Everything about it screams Autumn and goes perfectly with a cup of tea by a log fire ... tried, tested and verified!

Serves 10-12

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Bake to perfection for 22 minutes

You will need the following:

Cake

200g Butter

100g Caster Sugar

75g Light Soft Brown Sugar

50g Dark Muscavado Sugar

4 Eggs

225g Self Raising Flour

1Tbsp Baking Powder

1Tsp Nutmeg

1Tsp Cinnamon

1 Drop of  Vanilla Extract

2Tbsp Pressed Apple Juice 

(or the juice of half an Apple)

Icing

275g Icing Sugar

1Tbsp Plain Yoghurt

25g Butter

1Tsp Apple Juice

Filling

4Tbsp Hedgerow Jam

Decoration

A handful of Flaked Almonds & Crushed Walnuts to scatter

x2 8" Cake Tins

Method:

Measure out your butter

Combine the sugars and butter

Till pale and fluffy, then add in the eggs one at a time

Sift in the flour, spices and vanilla extract

Fold in

Add in the apple juice 

Finally fold in the baking powder 

Grease the two tins with butter, then sift in a bit of plain flour 

Coat the tins in the flour and dust of any excess  

Fill the two tins with the mixture 

Place just below the centre of this oven

&

bake to perfection for 22 minutes 

Whilst baking, make the icing sugar

Mix together the butter and icing sugar 

Add in the yoghurt & apple juice 

Ice your cake 

Top with flaked almonds and crushed walnuts 

Spread the jam on the base layer and then sandwich the two layers together 

Sprinkle your cake with crushed walnuts and flaked almonds 

Enjoy ...

Gooey Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are soooo Gooey and good. Not a bad word to utter about these! I had a look at several cookie recipes and settled on a combination of a few popular recipes with a favourite family recipe for 'same day biscuits' ... the recipe for which will be coming shortly. 

I am currently working in a prep school whilst I sorting out my career; its quite good fun and the children are rather insightful and amusing. I learnt at breakfast club today that it is their school disco for years 5 & 6 tonight. This threw up copious memories of my own experiences of school discos! The general separation of boys and girls on either side of the room,  until the uniting games of arches and snowball!! Panda pop drinks, crisp and sweets and of course the classic  song choices ... Saturday Night, Macarena, Cotton Eye Joe, Barbie Girl, 5,6,7,8.. , MMMBop, Pretty Fly (for a white guy) and a few spice girls and s club track thrown in for good measure! Whilst waitressing weddings at university I was amazed at how many sophisticated and high class affairs end the night with their DJ throwing out a few school disco classics! 

These gooey bits of goodness are a little present for the girls I have been working with in the nursery of the school. In my opinion they do a remarkable job providing exceptional care for the young children ... a task that should not be under estimated! 

Makes 18 cookies

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Bake to perfection for 12 minutes

You will need the following:

150g Butter

75g Caster Sugar

75g Soft Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 Drop of Vanilla Essence

175g Self Raising Flour

1 Pinch of Salt

1Tbsp Milk

200g Dark Chocolate, melted

100g Dark Chocolate Chips

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugars till pale and fluffy

Then add the vanilla essence

Add you salt

Stir in your egg

Then pour in the melted chocolate and combine

Sift in the flour 

Add the milk

Followed by the chocolate chips

Lightly grease your baking trays with a bit of butter & using two dessert spoons, dollop your cookie dough onto your trays. Don't put more than 6 per tray.

After 12 minutes remove from the oven and allow to cool

The cookies will still be soft so do not be tempted to mistake them for being under cooked. They will set when cooled

Enjoy ...