Halloween Caribbean Voodoo Cake

I love walking through my local TKMaxx  and it is always worth stopping at my nearest Homesense (which is in Watford) when I am passing through. Both of these stores have an ever changing, limited edition range. If you see it, you like it then buy it. It may not be there tomorrow!

I am always on the look out for things that will enhance my blog photos which could be tea towels, little dishes, cookie cutters etc or the Holy Grail of bakeware - NordicWare!  Some of my recent purchases -

Every now and then they will have a NordicWare bundt tin or other interesting baking tin. I was so excited recently to find the standing skull baking pan - this would be perfect for Halloween a few weeks away! 

I made my every day sponge cake mixture but added some Caribbean influence i.e. freshly grated nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger along with a few tablespoons of dark island rum!

Here is my recipe for a Halloween Caribbean Voodoo Cake

Ingredients: 
Cake:-
185 gm unsalted butter, room temperature
185 gm sugar
185 gm Self Raising flour
3 medium size eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 1/2 Tbsp dark rum
25 gm little crystalised ginger pieces

Icing:-
500 gm icing sugar
250 gm unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp dark rum
2 Tbsp nutmeg jam (or apricot jam)

Method:-
* Mix the flour and spices together in a bowl and set aside
* Cream butter and sugar until very light and creamy ( do this for between 2 1/2 - 5 minutes)
* Add the eggs one at a time, if they start to curdle add a little flour after each one.
* Add the flour and mix well then add the maple syrup, dark rum and ginger pieces.
* Pour into the well prepared (greased and floured) skull baking pan.
* Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean
* Cool for about 5 minutes on a wire rack then remove from baking pan and continue to cool completely

* Cream the butter and icing sugar together until smooth and creamy.
* Slowly add the rest of the ingredients and mix well
* Put a small amount of icing on a plate to act as a glue
* Spread a thick layer of icing on the back of the head then press the two pieces together and stand on the icing on the plate.
* Completely cover the entire skull head with the icing paying attention to the join and smooth all around it.
* Put the skull in the fridge for a couple of hours to set the icing before decorating.

* With the back of a spoon clear the indents for the eyes and nose and teeth.
* Decorate with edible colours or chocolate writing icing.

I wanted the finished cake to look a bit scary and a bit voodoo but I think it was a bit more like a clown!  At least it tasted fantastic, try it yourself and let me know with a comment below!

At least it tasted fantastic, try it yourself and let me know in a comment below how you get on.

If you are near a TKMaxx or Homesense pop in whenever you can - you never know what you will find!

This is a sponsored post but all opinions, photographs and decorating skills are my own!

Its Pumpkin Time! Lets Get Carving

It's that time of the year again, when witches and ghouls come out in the open asking for treats and threatening to trick you if you don't have anything for them.

Many households will have a carved out pumpkin with a light inside outside the front door (almost all houses will have a Jack-o-Lantern display in the USA).  But David Finkle (aka Pumpkin Dave) takes things one step further - he is a double Guinness World Record Holder:- Fastest pumpkin carver and the most pumpkins carved in one hour.

This year David has gone one step further and has carved famous faces in his pumpkins. These are celebrities you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of and the top 5 are:-
1. Lord Sugar
2. Gordon Ramsay
3. Simon Cowell
4. Katie Hopkins
5. Jeremy Clarkson

Asda sent me a pumpkin and pumpkin carving kit but I am afraid I always carve my 'signature' pumpkin face.

What do you think - does it scare you?

Halloween Tricks or Treats!

Unilever Kitchen are the guardian of loads of house hold names such as Knorr, Hellmans, Colemans, Flora and so many more.  I was invited to take part in a Halloween Challenge to make something using products included in the hamper they sent me.

I wanted to make a few things that would please a crowd after Trick or Treating on Halloween evening. When I grew up in America Halloween was a big deal however when I was first in this country hardly anyone celebrated.  But hurrah, it is now popular and there are loads of Halloween celebrations around.

What could be more autumnal than Sausage and Mash but with a difference. 

I marinate my sausages (mini sausages) in a mixture of 3 Tablespoons Colemans wholegrain mustard and 3 Tablespoons runny honey and leave in the bowl for at least 45 minutes. 

 

 

Pop onto an ovenproof dish and cook in a hot oven until cooked and sticky.

Meanwhile, whilst the sausages are cooking boil potatoes in salted water and cook until soft. Drain and mash until fluffy with a knob of Flora buttery, salt and pepper, a drop of milk and Helmann's Mayonnaise with lemon.

Serve the sausage and mash in little individual pots ready when the trick or treaters come home.

Something sweet: Ginger cupcakes with ginger icing.

 

 

I used the all in one method to make the cup cakes.  In a large bowl add all the ingredients:-
115g tub Stork
115g Castor Sugar
2 eggs
140g Self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
55g stem ginger chopped
2-3 Tbsp ginger syrup

Mix well until smooth and pour into 12 prepared cup cake cases.
Bake in a pre-heated oven 180o, 160o Fan, Gas 4 for 15-20 minutes.
Allow to cool before icing with:-

85g tub Stork
225g icing sugar
1 Tbsp ginger syrup
Pipe on to each cupcake and then decorate with a bit more chopped stem ginger.  Grate dark chocolate over the tops

My final piece for this Halloween is a Giant Spider Web Cake!

Cake mixture:-
230g tub Stork
230g Castor Sugar
4 eggs
185g Self raising flour
95g Coconut flour
4-5 Tbsp milk to bring a dropping consistency (using coconut flour you need a little bit more milk to get the right consistency.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, pour into the cake tins.
Bake in two prepared round cake tins in a 180o, 160o Fan, Gas 4 oven for 30 minutes.
When cool ice with a coconut icing with a bit of black food colouring. (I used a whole tube of Dr Oetker black food colouring and only got grey!) I added white squeezy icing to make a giant spider's web.

If you are not too scared of the spiders cut and serve!

Thanks Unilever Kitchen for the starter hamper and the inspiration to create. I was not paid to write this piece and as usual all opinions and photos are my own.