Jean-Christophe Novelli's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Cakes #BeBoldGoGold

Renowned celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli has whipped up a delicious gold-themed cupcake recipe to raise awareness and money as part of a leading cancer charity’s #BeBoldGoGold campaign for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September. The French chef, whose young son Valentino was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer at just eight weeks old, hopes lots of people will get involved and have a go at baking the quick and easy recipe.

Jean-Christophe’s golden honey and lemon cupcakes reflect the gold theme of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, with supporters also being encouraged to wear a gold ribbon and help spread the word that cancer affects everyone, even children.

Jean-Christophe said: “I hope my recipe is a fun way for everyone including children to join in with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month to help raise awareness. People can raise funds for childhood cancer by donating to CCLG or even having a cupcake bake sale! Until you are going through this experience yourself, you simply cannot imagine what it will be like.”

Jean-Christophe Novelli's golden honey and lemon cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

2 eggs

125g self-raising flour

125g margarine

25g runny honey

75g caster sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

Honey filling (optional)

75g sugar

55g runny honey

110g double cream

1tbsp butter

Honey buttercream

125g soft butter

175g icing sugar

25g runny honey

Method

Runny honey filling

Place the honey and sugar in a small pan and stir over a medium heat until the sugar is melted.

Allow the mixture to bubble gently without stirring for a few minutes until the mixture becomes caramel coloured.

Take off the heat and stir in the cream then the butter.

Let this mixture cool before putting it in the cupcakes.

Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Lay 10 metallic gold cupcake cases in a 12 hole muffin tin.

Put all the ingredients for the cupcakes in a bowl and beat together, ideally with an electric mixer, until combined and soft.

Divide the mixture between the 10 cases.

Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden and springy to touch.

Buttercream

Carefully beat the icing sugar and soft butter together until soft and creamy (this is easier with an electric mixer but the icing sugar can create a huge cloud of sugar dust, so beware!)

Add the honey and beat until combined.

Assembling the cupcakes

Once the cupcakes are cool cut a hole in the middle and fill the hole with the runny honey filling.

Top the cupcakes with buttercream.

To decorate:

Rose piping:

Use a piping bag with a large star nozzle filled with buttercream. Start piping from the centre of the cupcake and spiral outwards finishing on the edge. Finish with a puff of edible gold glitter.

Gold sprinkles:

Spread the buttercream on to the cupcake using a butter knife then sprinkle gold crunch sprinkles on top.

Smiley face:

To make the gold dome, roll out caramel coloured sugarpaste and cut out a large circle. Gently lay the circle over a foam dome and allow to dry overnight. To make the face, pipe white dots using royal icing, cut out eyes and a mouth using circle cutters and black and white sugarpaste.

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The full cupcake recipe can be downloaded at www.cclg.org.uk/jean-christophe-cupcakes

To find out how you can get involved or how to donate in support of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month #CCAM, visit: https://www.cclg.org.uk/childhoodcancerawarenessmonth

To donate £3 text GOLD to 70700

Christmas is a time for giving - how about offering a #SafeChristmas for someone who needs one?

It’s freezing cold, there's frost/snow/slush on the ground, a chill in the air – and you’ve seen someone sleeping rough on the streets. So what do you do? Turn the other way and pretend you haven't seen them? Give them money, while assuming it will probably get spent on drink or worse? Buy them a hot drink and a hamburger? It's always a tough call, but Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, have put together the following simple points to give guidance on how best to help young homeless people this Christmas. Latest figures reveal 16,000 young people will be at risk of homelessness this Christmas. Young people means 16-25 year olds. That's Sophie's age. The thought of her, or any of her friends, sleeping rough, worrying about which one of their friends will put them up for a couple of days or not having a safe place to spend Christmas is heartbreaking. It's so hard to know how you can help, but these tips from Centrepoint really can be used by anyone. Christmas is a time for giving and if you can give a #SafeChristmas to just one person, you'll have helped to make the world a better place.

WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU COME ACROSS A HOMELESS YOUNG PERSON THIS WINTER?

Contact Streetlink

Streetlink is an app whereby you can immediately report someone sleeping on the streets to your local authority. You can download the app from Apple or Google – alternatively call the 24 hour helpline on 0300 5000914. Be sure to be as detailed as possible with their appearance and location to give the team the best chance of finding the individual who needs help.

Refer them to Centrepoint Helpline

Alternatively, if you know of a young person who might be at risk of becoming homeless, the Freephone Centrepoint Helpline is available for any young person aged 16-25 in England. Open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm – call 0808 800 0661.

Many young people do not realise they are homeless. The stereotype of the rough sleeper in the grubby sleeping bag can lead young people to believe that their situation is “not all that bad”.

However, research show that sofa-surfing’ is incredibly common, with over two-thirds (68%) of homeless young people having temporarily stayed with friends or extended family (compared to 10% of the general population).

If safe, ask them if they are ok

The decision of whether or not to give money or food is always a personal one. However, a small act of kindness can make a big difference: even if you have nothing else to give, a friendly face and acknowledgement will always be welcome.

As a follow-on from this, if you feel someone’s health is at immediate risk, ring the emergency services, who will be able to help

Get involved with Centrepoint

Centrepoint is urging people to donate this winter; just £18 could give a young homeless person a warm, safe room, hot meal and support in rebuilding their life. 

Visit: http://centrepoint.org.uk/safechristmas

This last point is something to bear in mind when buying Secret Santa or Christmas gifts - there's always someone who is hard to buy for because they seem to have everything they want, so it's easy to fritter away money on something silly like a novelty toy or insipid box of chocolates/biscuits. Personally speaking, I'd much rather receive a charity donation in my name and know that it's done some real good to someone, rather than receive something that will end up taking up cupboard space or being donated to the charity shop !

It's Movember, time to CHECK your ‘Meat and Two Veg’ !

It's Movember and once again, thousands of men (and women !) across the world are forgoing the razors and getting hairy for a good cause - promoting men's health, in particular prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. All things that men often don't like to talk about - more a case of Dad's the word than Mum's the word !

A survey of 2,000 people has discovered the true extent of the taboo subject, with 82% of men unwilling to talk to their doctor about any issues with their genitals. The worrying results were commissioned by HECK – a Yorkshire-based sausage brand which is working alongside the world-leading men’s health charity The Movember Foundation. In the name of men’s health, HECK have renamed themselves CHECK for the duration of November, in order to encourage men to search for lumps on their scrotum and for women to CHECK their partners too!

Commenting on the poll findings, a spokesperson for The Movember Foundation said: 'Unfortunately this latest polling from HECK is accurate. Too many men are not checking themselves, not knowing what to look for and being too embarrassed to discuss the subject. Tackling these taboos head on, getting more men educated on the health risks they face, taking action when needed and talking when things get tough, is exactly why The Movember Foundation exists.’

The survey also showed that almost one in 10 (9.8%) of men between the ages of 18 and 24 would do nothing if they felt a lump on their testicle. By contrast, just 3% of women would do nothing if they felt a lump on a breast.

Testicular cancer is often described as a small pea-like lump on one testicle, but many men are unaware of this. Two thirds of men had no idea this was a sign of the deadly cancer. One in five blokes (18.4%) of men incorrectly assumed that a cancerous lump feels ‘like a flat coin’. The research also found that three-quarters of women (76%) would have no idea what a cancerous lump would feel like on their partner’s testicles. In contrast, slightly less than half of men (46.6%) said they’d know when to be concerned about a lump on their partner’s breast.

The research was carried out by the brands founder, Jamie Keeble, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer two years ago. He said, “If men don’t know what testicular cancer might feel like, how can they possibly check themselves? Testicular cancer is on the rise and men can reduce their chances of dying simply by knowing what to feel for. Too many men are dying young from ignorance and lack of quick action. This disease needs to be openly discussed so that more guys will check themselves and feel they can talk to someone if something doesn’t feel right."

To help spread the word, Heck sent us through some of their delicious sausages and invited us to  join in with the CHECK Sausages ‘Meat and Two Veg’challenge. For my two veg, I opted for some thinly sliced leeks and carrots, which I sauteed in butter before adding some single cream. They were a big hit with the kids and went really well with the sausages.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words so hopefully this one will make you giggle and remind you of what the campaign is all about ! I thought the unkempt "hair" on the leeks was very in-keeping with Movember !

The CHECK products will be available in ASDA, Morrisons, Sainsburys, Tesco and Waitrose throughout November, costing £2.99.

Disclosure : I received the sausages in order to take part in the challenge.

Look out for Fairy Non Bio & Great Ormond Street special packs

Fairy Non Bio have partnered with Great Ormond Street Hospital to launch a limited edition pack, available from October 2017 in most major supermarkets, including Waitrose, Asda and Tesco. Every time a customer buys one of the specially designed packs of Fairy Non Bio 3in1 PODS, Gel, Liquid and Powder featuring the GOSH Children’s logo, Fairy Non Bio will make a donation to the charity.

As a brand with a heritage of putting families first, Fairy Non Bio understand and value the specialised care and comforting environment that GOSH provides to hundreds of children and their families every day. Together, Fairy Non Bio and GOSH Children’s Charity are joining hands in their shared commitment of making sure that children and their families can benefit from the highest standards of care and a chance to fulfil their potential.

These special packs will allow consumers from all over the UK to make a difference to the hundreds of children and their families that arrive at GOSH every day. Children like Chloe, 6 who was placed in isolation, away from her family, whilst being treated for leukaemia. Thanks to generous donations made to GOSH Children’s Charity, many children at GOSH, like Chloe, are able to have the vital support of play workers whilst undergoing treatment, while their parents are able to stay nearby in charity funded accommodation.

Chloe and her family have shared their story alongside drawings that she created as she bravely went through life-changing treatment. Fairy Non Bio is proud to be able to help ensure more of the children at GOSH can continue to receive the care they need, thanks to this partnership:

Chloe was diagnosed with leukaemia and spent more than a month in isolation at Great Ormond Street Hospital having a bone marrow transplant. On the isolation ward, the Play team help children like Chloe cope with being separated from their family and friends. Chloe is really arty and with her Play Worker, Amy, she would talk about what she missed from home and together they would begin to draw. With Amy’s support, Chloe covered every wall of her hospital room with drawings, so that she was surrounded by her favourite things from home.

The money raised by Fairy Non Bio will help contribute to the charity’s funding of ground-breaking research, advanced medical equipment, child and family support services, and the rebuilding and refurbishment of wards and medical facilities at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Look out for special packs instore between now and early 2018.

Disclosure : I received the product in order to spread word of the partnership.

Red Nose Day Bake Sale recipe ideas from the Hairy Bikers and Nadiya Hussain

*** Don't miss my giveaway to win a Red Nose Day apron and colouring book ! ***

As I told you a couple of weeks ago, ahead of Red Nose Day (which is on March 24th this year), HomeSense have partnered with Comic Relief, filling their shelves with a Red Nose Day range that includes leather journals and colouring-in books, as well as exclusive tea towels and aprons designed by renowned fashion and portrait photographer Rankin.

 The apron features a selection of unique animal portraits including Rankin’s own dog and a whole host of celebrities have been photographed by Rankin wearing the apron to support the cause - The Hairy Bikers, Nadine Coyle, Nadiya Hussain, Jodie Kidd, Susanna Reid, Kimberley Wyatt, Lesley Joseph & Linda Robson, Una Healy, The Hemsley Sisters, Ella Mills (Deliciously Ella), Will Poulter, Fay Ripley, Vogue Williams and Tim Lovejoy, to name but a few.

If you fancy joining in with a Bake Sale to raise funds for the charity, here are some recipes to inspire you. Get your Red Nose Day aprons at the ready !

Parsnip and orange spiced cake

Serves 10

Now, before you say it – yes, there are parsnips in this cake. My parents love a good carrot cake, but when it’s the only thing they ask me to bake because they are not adventurous enough for much else ... well, I had to change it up just for my own creative sanity. Carrots may give colour, but parsnips add a similar flavour and sweetness with a whole lot more fragrance, so this isn’t as bold and daring as it might sound from the title. It’s a moist and delicious cake, and an excellent alternative to carrot. You could also give this recipe a go with courgette or beetroot. They all add different things and work equally well.

For the sponge:

 230g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

 2 teaspoons ground mixed spice

200g caster sugar

100g walnuts, chopped, plus extra for topping

3 medium eggs

150ml sunflower oil

500g parsnips, peeled, ends trimmed and coarsely grated

zest of 2 oranges, plus extra for decoration

For the frosting:

 50g unsalted butter, softened

 200g full-fat cream cheese

150g icing sugar

zest of 1 orange

Prep: 25 minutes Cook: 30 minutes

 Sponges can be frozen

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C. Grease and line the base of two 20.5cm sandwich tins with baking paper.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice. Add the caster sugar and chopped walnuts, mix through with a wooden spoon, and set aside.

Put the eggs and sunflower oil in a different bowl, and beat for a few minutes. Now mix all the dry ingredients into the egg and oil mixture, along with the grated parsnips and orange zest. Mix everything together until you have a thick batter; about 2 minutes.

Divide the mixture between the two cake tins, and level it off using a spatula. Bake for 25–30 minutes. The cakes should be golden, and a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.

Leave the cakes in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack and peel off the baking paper. Leave to cool completely.

To make the frosting: In a bowl, beat the butter with a wooden spoon then add the cream cheese and icing sugar. Beat until it all comes together, but be careful not to overdo it, or the frosting will become runny.

Leave the frosting in the fridge until you need it, if your kitchen is really warm.

Take your cooled cakes and sandwich them together using the frosting. Top the cake with lashings of frosting and sprinkle with walnuts, and some extra orange zest.

Nadiya’s Kitchen by Nadiya Hussain is out now (Penguin, HB, £20). Photographer: Holly Pickering

Photographer: Richard Hill

Victoria Sponge with Blackberries and Spiced Cream

Recipe taken from The Hairy Bikers’ Comfort Food (BBC1)

For the sponge cakes:

225g butter, softened

225g caster sugar

4 eggs

225g self-raising flour

2 tbsp lemon juice

For the blackberries:

A punnet of blackberries

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp crème de mure (optional)

For the cream:

250ml double or whipping cream

2 tbsp icing sugar

½ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp ground allspice

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground mace

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter and line 2 x 20/21cm sandwich tins. Using a hand held electric whisk or a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy – it should be almost mousse like. This should take a good 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour, mixing lightly between each addition, then add the remaining flour. Add as much lemon juice as necessary to give a dropping consistency, then divide between 2 tins. Bake in the oven for between 20-25 minutes until the sponge has shrunk away from the sides slightly, is springy to touch and a very light golden brown. Leave to cool in the tins for at least 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.

For the filling, put the blackberries in a bowl and sprinkle over the caster sugar and crème de mure if using. Leave to marinade for a short while – they will give out some juices.

Whip the cream then fold in the icing sugar and spices – the cream needs to be just beyond the soft peak stage – then pile this onto one of the sponges. Top with the blackberries and pour over any juices. Place the remaining sponge on top. Dust with icing sugar or caster sugar and serve.

 HomeSense has partnered with renowned fashion and portrait photographer Rankin to create exclusive aprons for Red Nose Day 2017 and help people living incredibly tough lives across Africa and here in the UK. The apron is part of a Red Nose Day 2017 range of products available in HomeSense stores nationwide.

Giveaway #610 : Win a Red Nose Day apron and colouring book - closed - winner Ray Dodds

RAISE SOME DOUGH FOR RED NOSE DAY AND MAKE YOUR BAKE MATTER !

This year's Red Nose Day is on Friday 24th March. HomeSense has partnered with renowned fashion and portrait photographer Rankin to create exclusive aprons for Red Nose Day 2017. With all the ingredients to become a design classic, the apron features a selection of unique, quirky and quintessentially British animal portraits including Rankin’s own dog.

HomeSense is an official Red Nose Day partner for the third time and the range also features a new children’s apron encouraging the whole family to join in the bake sale action by getting creative in the kitchen. Further products in the collection include a tea towel, also designed by Rankin, as well as a leather journal and a colouring-in notebook.

 The adult apron, priced at £12.99, will be available to buy from today in HomeSense and TK Maxx stores. With at least £5 from every adult apron sale going to Comic Relief, the money will help people living incredibly tough lives in the UK and across Africa.

I am delighted to be giving away an adult apron designed by Rankin alongside a RND colouring in book so you can make your bake matter for this year's Red Nose Day.

 Fill in your entries via the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

UK only. Closing date : 27/2/17

T & C's : Entries close at midnight on the closing date. Winners will be selected with a random number generator and announced on facebook and in the giveaway post subject line. Please note, you will be contacted by email and/or twitter and if I haven't heard from you after 28 days, I'll have to pick another winner. Prizes will be sent out by the companies or their PR directly to winners. Madhouse Family Reviews cannot be held responsible for any prizes that go astray !

You may also like to enter my other giveaways :

Giveaway #609 : Win 3 x The Guardians of Oz on dvd - closing date 19/2

Giveaway #607 : Win 2 x Phantom Boy on dvd - closing date 15/2

Giveaway #608 : Win 2 x The White King on dvd - closing date 16/2

#ChristmasIsForSharing : The Greatest Gift, courtesy of Sainsbury's

I love sitting down to watch all the Christmas adverts over the festive period and, out of all of them, I think Sainsbury's have the best overall message : Christmas is for sharing.

There may have been other adverts in the series before this one, but the first Sainsbury's ad with this message at the end that I remember was the 2014 one featuring the World War 1 football match between the trenches.

Last year's offering, Mog's Christmas Calamity, was another masterpiece because it made you smile all the way through then get a lump in your throat at the end when everyone comes together to help save their neighbours' Christmas.

This year's advert isn't so emotionally charged but it does still make me smile because I recognise myself, charging about all over the place multitasking and needing a dozen clones of myself to get everything done ! In the advert, the hard-working and devoted Dad, Dave, realises that the greatest gift he can give people this Christmas is his time and makes some mini-me's, including a gingerbread version.

I was delighted to see that Sainsbury's have brought the Christmas magic off the screens and into your trolley, creating a cute Gingerbread Dave biscuit. They're bound to delight your kids and even better news is that they retail for £1, including a 50p donation to the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity.

That's not the only way that you can become part of Dave's world though. Sainsbury's have also created  a tie in stop motion animation kit, allowing you to make films featuring your own stories and characters this Christmas.

You just need to download the Sainsbury's Story Studio app from Apple Store or GooglePlay, then use your phone to create your masterpiece. If you don't think you're up to sitting in the director's chair, have a look at how simple it is.



Downloading the app is free and you can pick up the animation kit, including everything you need, instore and at Sainsbury's online for £5, including a £2 donation to the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity.

#ChristmasIsForSharing so help share the love and the fun this Christmas by supporting such a worthwhile cause.

Disclosure : I received a shopping voucher as a thank you for sharing this post. As #ChristmasIsForSharing, I've decided I'll be buying some more Gingerbread Daves and also some extras to add to the food collection point.

Kids' dvd review : Pudsey and Friends

This year's Children In Need appeal show will be on our screens in just under a month, on Friday 18th November, but you don't have to wait until then to raise some funds to help disadvantaged children and young people throughout the UK. For the very first time, BBC Children in Need and Abbey Home Media have released a fantastic DVD featuring all your kids' favourite CBeebies shows.

The DVD provides over 3 hours of entertainment with episodes from fifteen different CBeebies shows. The programme listing is as follows :

Twirlywoos – Turning

 Peter Rabbit – The Tale of Old Rusty

 Something Special – Circus

Bing – Hearts

Teletubbies – Conga

 In The Night Garden -. Upsy Daisy Only Wants To Sing

Charlie & Lola – I Can Train Your Dog

Timmy Time – Timmy’s Picnic

 Sarah and Duck – Sarah, Duck and The Penguins

 Chuggington - Trainee Camp

The Furchester Hotel – Peckity Woodpecker

 Octonauts – Porcupine Puffer

 Cloudbabies – Rainbows Orchestra

 Q Pootle 5 - Pootle’s New Spaceship

Mike The Knight - The Snoring Dragon

There are many of Pierre's all-time favourite preschooler shows on there and there isn't a single episode that he hasn't enjoyed watching (several times already in fact !). It only costs £5 which is great value, and even better news is that a minimum of £2 from the sale of every DVD will go to the charity. That sounds like a win-win situation to me ! (I've also noticed that if you buy through Amazon, they currently have a promotion where you are entitled to £1 credit to spend on movies or TV on Amazon Video when you purchase a DVD or Blu-ray offered by Amazon, making it even better value.) If you want a stocking filler that any preschooler will love, look no further - alternatively, it might be a sanity saver during the half term holiday if the weather is too awful to go out !

Title: Pudsey and Friends

Release date: Monday 10th October

Distributor: Abbey Home Media

Format: DVD

Certificate: U

Available from all leading DVD stockists

Disclosure : We received the product in order to write an honest review.

Recipe ideas for RNLI Fish Supper Campaign 14-16 October 2016

I've lived in numerous towns on both sides of the Channel - Hastings, Swansea, Brest, Dunkirk - but never more than a 5-minute drive from the beach, which is probably why I have such respect for the RNLI. I've seen the Hastings lifeboatmen rocking around on a very stormy sea with sheets of rain coming down almost horizontally and zero visibility, trying to find someone who had been swept out to sea, and they are definitely unsung heroes.

This week, the RNLI is encouraging people across the UK to cook a fish supper for friends and family to raise money for the volunteer crew members who often have to sacrifice dinner with their loved ones to help those in trouble at sea. Fish Supper takes place between 14 - 16 October, but you can hold your dinner party on any date suitable for you. To sign up. visit: www.rnli.org/fishsupper

 From gourmet Lobster Thermidor, to the quintessentially British Fish ‘n’ Chips, Fish Supper is a time for family and friends to come together. The importance of togetherness and team spirit is central to the RNLI, and is what makes the charity and its volunteers so special.

I've put together a little round-up of fish dishes that you might like to try for the occasion.

How about a Moroccan fish tagine, made with fish balls instead of the more usual meat balls?

If you want something more homely and traditional, this Cod & Haddock Fish Pie is the perfect winter warmer.

You could go exotic with the amusingly named Amok, a Cambodian fish dish that involves a disconcerting blend of curry powder, sugar, fish sauce, coconut milk and raw eggs. Yes, I know, it sounds disgusting but it was actually very nice. It's traditionally cooked in banana leaves, but fear not - foil works just as well !

If you want a deceptively simple dish, Salmon & Spinach Puffs are the way to go.

Or if you're a curry fiend, you could give this Salmon & Prawn Massaman Curry a try.

There are plenty more recipe ideas over on the RNLI Fish Supper website too, if you'd like to get involved and help support a great cause.

Globecooking recipe : Gino D'Acampo's chocolate panforte (Italy) #StarlightBirthdayCakeBake

Starlight is a national charity that brightens the lives of seriously and terminally ill children by granting wishes-of-a-lifetime and providing a year-round entertainment programme in hospitals and hospices across the UK. This year is a big year for Starlight - it's their 30th birthday, so to celebrate 30 years of brightening the lives of seriously ill children, and to help raise funds to reach even more children, they're asking people to take part in the ‘Starlight Birthday Cake Bake’ during the week of 10th October by holding a bake sale for Starlight.

A number of celebrities including Nadiya Hussain, Joanna Lumley, Rob Brydon and Russell Howard, have lent their support to the campaign by sharing their favourite cake recipe. These are available to download in their free cake bake pack. I made celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo's chocolate panforte and in honour of Starlight, I made a star-shaped cake !

Gino D’Acampo’s chocolate panforte

ingredients :

For the cake:

250g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

3 egg whites

3 tbsp runny honey

200g ground almonds

50g hazelnuts, skinless and roasted

100g walnuts

50g candied peel

4 tbsp Amaretto liqueur (adults only!)

200g icing sugar

For the topping:

100g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

200g icing sugar

2 tbsp icing sugar or sugar crystals to decorate

Break the chocolate into small pieces in a bowl.

Melt in the microwave or in a bain-marie.

The recipe calls for three egg whites and I had a pack of egg white powder in the cupboard that I had received in a baking hamper and never dared to try.

I decided to give it a go and emptied three sachets into a bowl - it's a very fine powder.

After adding the required quantity of warm water, it looked just like real, fresh egg whites but it had a strange and rather unpleasant smell. This didn't come through in the finished cake though.

Mix the honey into the egg whites.

The powdered egg whites weren't the only liberty I took with the recipe - I also decided to substitute the ground almonds for a sachet of chocolate Ready Brek, because I had loads in the cupboard that needed using up and the very fine oats have a similar texture.

Mix in the ground almonds/Ready Brek.

And the icing sugar, whole nuts and candied peel - I used all hazelnuts rather than a mixture of hazelnuts and walnuts and left out the candied peel.

Stir through the melted chocolate.

Press firmly into a clingfilm-lined cake mould and chill in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

When it's totally set, press out and remove the clingfilm.

Make the topping by melting the chocolate and mixing in the icing sugar, spreading it over the top of the cake then sprinkling with sugar crystals. Cut into slices with a sharp knife and eat a sneaky slice or two before the kids (or your cake bake guests) arrive and scoff the lot !

for more information about the charity and to request your free cake bake kit : http://www.starlight.org.uk

Adding to this month's #KitchenClearout because it used up some Ready Brek and some egg white powder that was cluttering up the cupboard.