Black Widow Spider Halloween Cupcakes

Do come into my parlour asks Mr Spider on this eerie Halloween Night! My venomous bite awaits anyone who “DARES” to step this way!!

Wishing you and your family a most spook- tastic Halloween.

My Black Widow Spider cupcakes are chocolate sponged based, covered in a layer of icing with black icing piped around in a circle and drawn into a web shape, perfect for a themed Halloween party. You don’t need to add the plastic spiders; the webs look pretty on their own. They can be made very quickly for anyone wanting to bake something in a hurry.

Here is my recipe

Black Widow Spider Halloween Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
For The Sponge
110g (4 oz) self-raising flour
50g (2 oz) cocoa powder
175g (6 oz) soft butter
3 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp chocolate extract
For The Icing
225g (8 oz) icing sugar
Few drops of lemon juice
Few drops of water
Edible black sugar flare icing colour

You will need 12-hole muffin tin and line with 12 paper cases and an Icing bag with a writing nozzle.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.

For The Sponge, in a bowl add the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add each egg one at a time and beat until all incorporated then add the chocolate extract and milk and mix in well.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder together and fold in the mixture gently until all is combined.

Fill the sponge mixture to 3/4 full in each paper case. Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm to touch and skewer inserted into the centre of the sponge comes out clean. Lave to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Make the icing, sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and add a few drops of lemon juice and a few drops of water to make a stiff but runny icing. Leave a little of the icing in another bowl, colour black by using a cocktail stick dipped into the black colouring then into the icing, mix and add more colour until the required colour is achieved.

Spoon the white icing over the top of the cupcakes and fill the piping bag with black icing. Pipe in circles around the top and then with a cocktail stick or skewer draw a line outwards, carry on at intervals doing this until it forms a spider web appearance. Stick a toy spider on top if using them to decorate. *Please be careful that the spiders are removed before eating the cupcakes*.

Note. You can use vanilla extract instead of chocolate extract and/or add orange zest for a choc-orange combo.

Sausage, Pumpkin, Onion and Red Pepper in a Sticky Smoked Sauce

The sauce to this dish tastes magnificent, much like a Bar-B-Q dish. The sausages and vegetables are coated and cooked through with a sticky smoked glaze. A fantastic treat of a dish for celebrating Halloween or Bonfire night.

Here is my recipe

Sausage, Pumpkin, Onion and Red Pepper in a Sticky Smoked Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients
450g (1 lb) of Lincolnshire sausages
Small squash or ¼ of a pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into large wedges
2 onions, peeled and cut into large wedges
For The Sticky Smoked Sauce
6 tbsp tomato ketchup
6 tbsp muscovado sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
A little flat-leafed parsley for decoration

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/400°C/Gas mark 6.

Firstly make the sticky smoked sauce by adding all the sauce ingredients into small bowl. Mix thoroughly and leave to one side.

In a large roasting tin, add all the vegetables and sausages and pour over the sticky smoked sauce. Either with a large spoon or clean hands coat all the vegetables and sausages in the sauce.

Place in the oven and cook for about 45 minutes or until the sausages and vegetables are cooked.

Serve with jacket potatoes and side salad.

Pumpkin pie

In keeping with my Halloween Theme I wanted to bake something with pumpkin in it. Now I’ve always been inquisitive as to how Pumpkin Pie would taste? Now having baked and tasted my first slice I fully understand what all the hype is about in America!! This pie is amazing and I have been missing out on what our friends over the pond have known for years, just how good this pie is!! It’s smooth velvetiness of sweet spicy delight, will be gracing my table many more years to come! It’s been such a huge hit with the family too so much so that the pie dish is now empty.

Pumpkin Puree - just look at that fabulous colour!

Here is my recipe

Pumpkin pie

Ingredients
For The Pastry
110g (4 oz) plain flour
25g (1 oz) cold butter
25g (1 oz) vegetable shortening or lard
4 –6 cold water
For The Filling
½ large pumpkin, deseeded and cut into wedges – makes 300g (11 oz) puree
1tsp ground cinnamon

½tsp ground ginger

½tsp ground nutmeg

150g(5 oz) soft dark brown sugar

2tbsp maple syrup

2 large eggs

150ml (5 fl oz) double cream

I used a greased Pyrex pie plate that measured 22cm (8½ in) diameter & 4cm (1½ in) deep

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.

To Make The Pumpkin Puree, In a baking tray add the wedges of pumpkin and just a little water to stop the pumpkin from drying out. Bake in the oven until soft. When cool enough to handle, take off the skins and puree the pumpkin flesh in a food processor (you should have about 300g (11 oz) puree). Over a bowl, pour the puree into a sieve to drain of any water and leave to one side.

Turn the oven down to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.

To make the pastry, in a food processor add the flours, butter, vegetable shortening or lard. Blitz together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the cold water and blitz again until it forms into a ball. Take out of the food processor and wrap in cling film and place in the fridge until chilled. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to line the pie dish. Cut off the over hang of pastry and pick the bottom of the pastry base with a fork lightly. Line with baking paper and place baking beans on top then place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the baking beans and baking paper and put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.

To Make The Filling, in a clean bowl added the drained pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and soft dark brown sugar and then mix thoroughly through. In another bowl whisk the eggs and cream together until fully combined. Add this to the pumpkin mixture and mix in well. Add to pastry case and bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until the centre is fully set.

Leave to cool on a wire rack and cut into slices to serve with cream or ice cream.

A Fang-tastic Biting Halloween Cake

Introducing Count Dracula who waits to greet you form his marbled coffin in Transylvania!! I dare you to be frightened as you step into his lair, the Lord of Vampires may take a * biting* to you!!!

I wanted to have fun with my Halloween cake this year and I’ve been debating for a few weeks what theme to choose, when this idea sprung to mind. I’m a self-taught cook/baker and still learning and having fun along the way. Making this cake I felt like a kid making something off “Blue Peter” programme with sticky-back plastic lol.

This cake is basically a Victoria sponge baked in a 3lb loaf tin. I added red food colouring to the sponge in keeping with Dracula’s theme of blood. Fondant icing was used throughout to cover a 10 in cake board, coffin base and lid, also to shape Count Dracula himself. For the little figures and spiders, they came from a Halloween section at my local store.

Here is my recipe

Count Dracula Coffin cake

Ingredients
For The Sponge Cake
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour
50g (2 oz) coco powder
225g (8 oz) soft butter
225g (8 oz) caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp edible red food colouring pastes (sugar flare)
2 tbsp milk
For The Icing
2 x 450g ready-made fondant icing in white
Edible food colouring pastes (sugar flare) Black, Red, Pink
Edible icing writing pens, Black, Red
Icing sugar, for rolling the fondant icing
4 tbsp Apricot jam, for sticking the fondant icing
A little water (about 2 tbsp)
For The Coffin Lid
Flexible plastic, cut out the shape of a coffin lid large enough to fit
4 wooden cocktail sticks
Apricot jam to stick the icing to the plastic lid
Fondant icing
Edible food colouring pastes (sugar flare) Black
*See note at the bottom*
Decorations
Bat, ghost, pumpkin and spiders or of your choice
Edible food glitter

You will also need a 25.5cm (10 in) square cake board, 3lb loaf in greased and lined with baking paper.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

For the sponge cake, in a bowl cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla a little at a time until all combined. Mix in the food colouring until incorporated into the mixture. Sieve the flour and coco together and fold in lightly. Spoon into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top of the sponge with a spatula.

Place into the preheated oven and cook for 35 – 45 minutes or until it feels firm to the touch and skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Make the marble fondant icing, Take 700g (1½ lb) fondant icing and with a cocktail stick dip it into the black colouring and place the colour onto your fondant icing. Working the fondant icing and colour in with your hands just enough to give a marble effect. This will be used for covering the board, coffin, RIP sign and lid. Cut into 3 pieces and store in cling film to stop the icing drying out, using each third at a time.

Apricot jam, in a saucepan place the apricot jam and water and heat gently on a low heat stirring with a spoon until it combines together for sticking down the fondant icing. *See note at the bottom*.

Covering the board in marble fondant icing. Sprinkle icing sugar on a work surface and roll out the icing thinly to cover the board. With a pastry brush and some of the apricot jam, paint the board just enough to stick the icing onto. Roll the icing over your rolling pin and cover the board cutting off any excess overhang. Smooth the fondant icing down on the board.

For the sponge cake icing, brush the bottom of the sponge with a little apricot jam from the saucepan. Position the cake on the board in the middle and stick down. Brush over the rest of the sponge with some of the apricot jam. With three quarters of the remaining marble icing, roll out making the icing large enough to fit over the sponge cake. Lift the icing over your rolling pin placing the icing over the sponge, ease the fondant into place and smooth out, cutting away the excess icing carefully, not marking the board. Roll out the cut offs of marble icing to make strips to cover the sides and edge of the coffin as in the picture. Stick down with the apricot jam and smooth out. Make a sign of R.I.P with icing and stick this to the side of the coffin.

For the coffin lid, with the remaining marble icing or make more if you’ve run out, roll out thinly to cover the plastic shaped lid that was cut out. Place 4 cocktail sticks, (leaving enough of the tips to stick into the top back edge of coffin) onto pieces of fondant icing and stick to the back of the plastic lid with a good dollop of apricot jam. Spread apricot jam over the plastic lid front and back and carefully place the marble icing over the lid. Smooth it all down and cut away any overhang.

For Dracula, with some white fondant icing make the body as in the picture also make two fangs and eyeballs. Now colour some fondant icing pink for the head, ears, nose, arm and hand. Form into the shapes on the picture sticking down the shapes with apricot jam. With the remaining fondant icing colour this black and make the hair, buttons and cloak (the cloak is a circle folded into pleats around the body and a roll of icing for the collar), place and stick them on. Colour the fangs on the tips with edible icing writing pen of red and also for the eyes as in the picture, then make the eyebrows with the black colour pen.

Final assembly, place Count Dracula onto the middle of the coffin sticking the base of him with apricot jam and secure. Take the lid and line it up before sticking the cocktail sticks down into the sponge, making sure the front is the smooth side of the lid. Sprinkle a little edible glitter over Count Dracula’s cape and hair. Place the figures and spiders around the board and coffin.

Note. I have read that vegetable fat can be used to roll fondant icing instead of icing sugar, this stops the icing sugar marking the coloured icing. If you want to quickly make the coffin lid and only showing the front of the cake, you can stick the cocktail sticks on to the plastic with cellotape and just line the front with fondant icing. You can also use water to ‘glue’ Dracula together.

White Bread Rolls

I find there’s nothing better than the smell of bread baking in the oven. It’s aroma wafts through the kitchen to greet you and gets those taste buds tingling! Also it has its advantage of giving you a good work out in kneading and knocking back the dough, and a good stress reliever too. Throw away those stress dummies if you have one, bash and thump a piece of dough instead and get excellent end results of freshly baked bread. How good is that?

I’ve made bread rolls here and shaped them in cottage loaf style and long loaves. To shape them into cottage loaves, roll two balls of dough one larger than the other, place the smaller one on top and with your index finger poke it down the middle and hey presto you have the shape. For the long rolls, form them into sausage shapes and with a sharp knife make two slashes into the top of the dough.

The recipe here isn’t from the book shown in the photo by Andrew whitley – Bread Matters, but a book I would recommend to buy.


White Bread Rolls

Ingredients
240ml warm water
1 egg, beaten
450g white bread flour
1tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
25g butter
1½ tsp easy blend yeast
For The Glaze
Egg yolk, beaten

Method

Grease 2 baking sheets and set aside

In a mixing bowl add the flour and salt, and then rub in the butter. Stir in the yeast and sugar. Make a well in the centre, and then add the egg and enough warm water, mixing to form a soft dough.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a round, and then place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and leave it to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Knock back the dough on a lightly floured surface, and then divide it into 8 or 10 equal portions. Roll each portion of dough into a round, oval or small cottage loaf shapes.

Place the rolls on the baking sheets, spacing them well apart, cover and leave to rise again for 20 –30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/425°F/Gas mark 7. Brush the tops with the egg yolk and bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until the rolls are lightly browned.

Transfer to a wire rack and cool. Serve warm or cold.

Butternut Squash Soup & Spelt Bread

Squashes and pumpkins are plentiful in food stores being autumn time in England. In my local store, I purchased two large organic squashes with an exact recipe in mind to use them. Last year I made Butternut Squash soup from Mary Berry’s recipe, which is an absolute winner in my household and one that I knew I’d be making again this year! This is a simple soup to make by cutting the squashes in half and drizzling over olive oil, salt and pepper placing them in a roasting tray and topping up with water to roast away in the oven until the flesh is soft and easy to scoop out leaving the skin behind. A few carrots, onion, celery, grated ginger and chopped rosemary, sweated off in butter and a good vegetable stock added. All the ingredients whizzed together to make a smooth silky soup. Pure comfort food in a bowl served with crusty warm homemade bread.

I baked for the first time a Spelt loaf to accompany the soup. WOW, this spelt bread has a wonderful nutty wheat taste with a nice texture. To think I was ‘knocking back’ dough with spelt flour that was a common ingredient of ancient civilisations! Spelt grains I believe have even been found Stone Age excavations! I used Doves Farm Organic spelt flour and a recipe from their web site.

If you’d like the recipes for the soup and/or bread the links are below.

Butternut Squash soup

Spelt Bread

Halloween Cookies

Halloween is approaching and ghoulish treats for the festivities always go down a treat with youngsters. These cookies are a nice sweet treat to add to any Halloween party you are planning or even for trick-or-treaters who come knocking at your door! They are easy to make and in the process it’s fun to play around with different cookie cutters and coloured icing. You can make them as ghoulish as you wish for example, pumpkins having scary eyes and mouths or bats with dripping red icing for blood!

Halloween Cookies

Ingredients
For The Cookies
125g (4½ oz) softened butter
50g (2 oz) icing sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp mixed spice
1 small egg yolk
165g (9 oz) plain flour
For The Decoration
110g (4 oz) icing sugar, sieved
Few drops of lemon juice
Water, to mix to a paste
Edible food colourings of choice
Silver dragees for eyes
Cookie cutters of your choice

You will need 2 greased baking trays

Method

In a mixing bowl add the butter, salt and mixed spice and beat until light and combined. Add the egg yolk and beat in well. Add the flour and mix until it forms a ball. Flatten into a circle and wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least one hour. If the dough is not chilled enough it will be too soft to roll out.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Roll the dough out to about the thickness of a £1 coin and cut out shapes of your choice with the cookie cutters. Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for about 8 – 10 minutes until cooked. The cookies will feel soft when you take them out of the oven until they harden on cooling. Leave to cool.

To make the icing, in a bowl add the sifted icing sugar, a few drops of lemon juice and just enough water to make an icing thick enough to coat the cookies. In separate bowls divide the icing and colour each bowl of icing to suit which cookies you have made. Drizzle the icing onto the cookies; add the dragees for eyes then leave on a wire rack to let the icing harden.

Makes 15 – 20 cookies depending on how large your cookie cutters are.

Good Old-Fashioned Steamed Pudding of Spotted Dick

Spotted Dick is a very old-fashioned steamed pudding that has been renamed as Spotted Richard at my local restaurant for fear of embarrassment I guess, for customers ordering! This is pure comfort food at its best on a cold Autumn/Winter evening, served with lashings of hot steamy custard. I still like my pudding steamed on top of the stove the old-fashioned way, which delivers a very moist fruit sponge pudding. The only thing I have changed is that I use vegetable suet instead of beef suet these days. Of course this is a treat that you can have on special occasions for pudding, I wouldn’t like to make a guess on how many calories are in a serving – but then who’s counting when it’s a sheer treat?

Good Old-Fashioned Steamed Pudding of Spotted Dick

Serves 6 –8

Ingredients
225g (8 oz) self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
110g (4 oz) suet * beef or vegetable *
25g (1 oz) caster sugar
175g (6 oz) currants
150ml (¼ pint) milk

Method

You will need a 1.2 litre (2 pint) pudding basin, greased with a little butter, greaseproof paper and foil to cover the top of the basin and a little string to secure the paper and foil.

Place a steamer on to boil and then lower to a simmer in readiness for cooking the pudding.

In a mixing bowl sieve the flour and salt together then add the suet, sugar and currants. Add enough milk to make the mixture into a dropping consistency (you may not require all the milk from the list of ingredients), and mix until all combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pudding basin and with a spoon level the top.

Make a circle large enough to fold a pleat in the middle to place on top of the pudding, leaving enough to come down the sides, do the same with the foil too. After placing the greaseproof paper and foil on top of the pudding basin, tie string around the top half of the basin and secure tightly, then take the string over the top of the pudding tying down to make a handle to lift the pudding out.

Place the pudding into the steamer and steam for 2 hours, do not let the steamer boil dry and replenish the water as necessary.

Serve while hot with lashing of custard or cream.

Think Pink Sponge Cake

October is the month for ‘Thinking Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness". I thought I’d make another OTT Pink Cake for this occasion. It’s a simple cake to bake being a Victoria pink sponge, with creamy pink butter icing. You can add as many sprinkles and sparkles as you wish and go totally outrageous as I have here, or play things down with just a pink ribbon. Go wild and hold a Pink Themed party for your friends!

Here is the link for breastcancercare.org.uk

A Slice of Think Pink Sponge Cake

Think Pink Sponge Cake

Ingredients
For The Sponge
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour, sieved
175g (6 oz) soft butter
175g (6 oz) caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
2 tsp strawberry essence * see note *
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp strawberry conserve, to sandwich the cake together
For The Butter Icing
110g (4 oz) soft butter
225g (8 oz) Icing sugar, sieved
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp strawberry essence * see note *
For Decoration
Pink sugar strands, Pink/white sugar shapes, Pink Dragees, or sprinkles of your choice
Pink ribbon (optional)


Method

You will need 2 x 20cm sandwich tins, grease and base line with baking paper. Preheat oven to 200°C/Fan oven 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.

In a bowl add the softened butter, sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the beaten egg a little at a time, then strawberry essence until all combined. Fold in the flour gently and then fold in the 3 tablespoons of milk.

Divide the mixture equally into each sandwich tin and place in the preheated oven, middle shelf for 20 – 25 minutes or until cooked. The tops should spring back slightly when lightly touched and a skewer inserted into the middle of the sponge should come out clean when cooked.

Leave in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Make the Icing. In a bowl cream the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the strawberry essence and milk and beat again until all combine. Leave to one side and cover with cling film until required.

When the sponges are cold, take one sponge for the bottom of the cake and spread with strawberry conserve and 2 tablespoons of butter icing, then place the second sponge on top.

Cover the whole cake with the remaining icing using a spatula to smooth the top and sides.

Sprinkle the pink decorations of your choice over the top and add pink ribbon if using.

Note. You could always add edible pink food colouring instead of strawberry essence to the sponge and icing if preferred.

Quince & Apple Jelly Preserve

In July this year I posted about my little quince shrub , wondering how much crop it would yield this year? It produced approx 450g (1 lb) of beautiful fragrant fruit, now I pondered on how to make the most of them! I had mused on possibilities of baking an apple pie and adding slices of quince, but I wanted to savour the flavours of these beautiful fruits a little longer. Perseveres rang a bell here having enjoyed my friend Maureen’s Apple Jelly so much, I thought I’d try her recipe with added quince.

Oh my, taste of this jelly is soooo good not to mention its gorgeous colour! It’s sweet with a little tartness and a slight background hint of rose. The preserve is very easy to make, leaving the jelly bag and its contents to drip overnight before going onto the final stage of making the jelly. Mmmmmm cooks treat of toast and jelly for breakfast tomorrow :)

Quince & Apple Jelly Recipe

Ingredients
450g (1 lb) Quinces
450g (1 lb) Cooking apples
600ml (1 pint) Cold water
450g (1 lb) White sugar per 600ml (1 pint) juice
Juice of 2 lemons

Method

Chop the quinces and apples, skin, seeds and all and place in a large heavy based saucepan. Add the cold water to cover and bring to a simmer (cover the pan with a lid as you don’t want to loose to much liquid). Simmer until it is pulpy. Strain in a jelly bag (never squeeze the bag or the jelly will be cloudy) Leave it to drip.

Measure the juice and return to a large clean saucepan and add the lemon juice. Heat the juice, add the sugar and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, and boil rapidly. You will see the rather cloudy juice change to a gorgeous colour. Carry on boiling until setting point is reached - 105°C skim if necessary and ladle into hot dry sterilised bottles. Seal immediately. Store in a cool dark place, once opened it must be stored in the fridge.

Quantity: 450g (1 lb) sugar should make 750g 1 2/3 lb Jelly900g (2 lb) sugar should make 1.5kg (3 1/3 lb) Jelly

Triple Lemon Cake - Barefoot Contessa Lemon Cake

Triple Lemon Cake - Barefoot Contessa Lemon Cake

My lemon cravings in bakes don’t seem to diminish at all and I needed my fix of pure lemony heaven lol (!)

I found a delicious recipe that ticked all the boxes on the web by Ina Garten – Barefoot Contessa. This recipe has triple lemon flavours of zest and juice in the sponge, then lemon syrup poured over whilst cooling and the Pièce de résistance, drizzles of lemon icing.

Oh my, unadulterated sheer indulgence of yellow lemon-ness and completely fabulous! Following the recipe was a piece of cake *excuse the pun* and baked within no time. I used a 10 in Bundt cake tin to bake my cake and the quantity of the recipe was perfect!

Showing a slice taken from the cake

Here is a link to this recipe if you also want a fix of pure lemony heaven :)

Mini Cherry & Almond Loaves

It’s October folks so my posts will be in pink for “Going For Pink October 2007”.

I had been pondering of what to bake next, whilst opening my store cupboard a tub of glace cherries came starring back at me. A bottle of Amaretto liqueur, which I had needed for something I had baked at one time or another, a packet of ground almonds waiting to be used at some stage too. This is how these mini loaves came into being. This is pure retro cake with a little twist of Amaretto icing!

I adore the way these little glace cherries glint like red jewels sat adorned on top of each mini loaf. Amaretto glazed icing, flakes of almonds and cherry, truly unite all the flavours for that perfect finish to each mini loaf.

Here is my recipe.

Mini Cherry & Almond Loaves

Makes 6 mini loaves

Ingredients
75g (3 oz) self-raising flour, sieved
25g (1 oz) ground almonds
110g (4 oz) butter, soft
110g (4 oz) caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp almond essence
75g (3 oz) glace cherries, washed, patted dry and chopped into quarters
2 tbsp milk
For The Icing
110g (4 oz) icing sugar, sieved
2 tsp Amaretto liqueur
½ - 1 tsp cold water, enough for a runny icing
3 glace cherries chopped in half for decoration
A few flaked almonds for decoration


Method

Preheat the oven to 180° C/fan ovens 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. You will need a 6-hole mini loaf tin, greased and floured (tap out the excess flour and throw away).

In a bowl add the butter and sugar, then beat until creamy and fluffy. Add a little of the beaten egg at a time with the almond essence until all combined. Fold in the ground almonds and flour, then add the milk and gently mix in. Fold in the glace cherries through the mixture.

Divide the mixture equally between the mini loaf tin and with a spatula smooth the mixture on the tops.

Place into the preheated oven on the middle shelf for 25 minutes or until firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave in the loaf tin to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

To make the icing, in a bowl place the sieved icing sugar, Amaretto liqueur and ½ teaspoon of water and then beat until smooth. If the icing isn’t runny enough add the extra ½ teaspoon of water.

When the loaves are cold, spoon over the icing in equal amounts on each one. Place a few flaked almonds and half a cherry for decoration on top of the icing.

Note: If you don’t fancy using Amaretto just add a few drops of almond essence and a little more water to the icing.

Shimmering Pink Cake

I have gone shimmering pink with my cake for “Going Pink October 2007”. I know I’m early but I wanted to spread the word around!

I have a close friend who now is in remission for breast cancer. I watched her progress through different stages of treatment; she underwent surgery and chemotherapy treatment. I even watched her beautiful long hair fall out over time, her answer to this, “I can wear a wig until it grows back”! She always has a smile and she fully tackled this stage in her life with strength and grace.

If you’re an avid baker and you feel like celebrating “Going Pink,” with a slice of cake and a cup of tea with your family and friends, here is my recipe.

Shimmering Pink Cake

Serves 8 – 10

Ingredients
250g (9 oz) Plain flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
100g (4 oz) butter, softened
250g (9 oz) Caster sugar
2 Eggs
175 ml (6 fl oz) Milk
170g (5½ oz) raspberries, slightly crushed with a fork
Few drops of edible pink food colouring
Pink Icing
450g (1 lb) Icing sugar, sifted
50g (2 oz) butter, softened
50 ml (2 fl oz) Milk
Few drops of edible pink food colouring
Pink & white Sprinkles, pink sugar strands, for decoration
Fresh pink rose bud (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C/fan oven 150°C/350°F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm (8 in) square cake tin, line the base with baking paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder and Bicarbonate of soda together and leave to one side in a bowl.

Put the sugar and butter into a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Fold in the flour mixture and then add the slightly crushed raspberries and milk. Mix in a few drops of edible pink food colouring until you achieve the required colour.

Spoon into the tin and bake for about 45 – 50 minutes or until cooked. It should feel firm to touch when cooked. You can also test by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake, which will come out clean when cooked.

Leave in the tin for 10 minutes to cool before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Peel away the baking paper when the cake is cold.

When cake is cold, make the icing by beating all ingredients together, spread over the cake and sprinkle on some sugar strands, sprinkles, and a pink rose bud.