Happy Halloween

Here is a recipe for a devils food cake;  the perfect cake for Halloween! I have used a Fudge Frosting in the middle of the cake and an American Frosting to cover the outside of the cake. Either frosting can be used on the outside of the cake or the inside of the cake. For the top of the cake, I have made chocolate bats and a moon, for a Halloween theme.

Ingredients:

FOR THE CAKE:

100g Dark chocolate

175ml boiling water

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

125g butter

200g light muscovado sugar

150g castor sugar

2 large eggs

300g plain flour

125ml sour cream

FOR THE FUDGE FROSTING:

45g milk chocolate

45g dark chocolate

225ml sour cream

FOR THE AMERICAN FROSTING:

175g castor sugar

1 egg white

2 tablespoons hot water

Pinch of cream of Tatar

1. Heat the oven at 180 degrees C and grease 2 tins.
2. To make the CAKE break up the chocolate and place in a heat proof bowl over a pan of water. Remove from the heat when melted and leave to cool.
3. In a separate bowl pour the boiling water over the cocoa and whisk until smooth. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda and then add to the melted chocolate. Whisk and then leave to cool until needed.
4. Whisk the butter and both sugars until light and creamy in a food mixer. Add the eggs, slowly beating after each addition.
5. Mix in the flour alternatively with the sour cream. When combined mix in the chocolate mixture.
6. Divide the mixture between 2 tins and cook for 25 -30 minutes.
7. When the cakes are cooked turn out onto a wire rack and cool.
8. To make the FUDGE FROSTING melt both of the chocolates in a bowl over a pan of water. Cool. Then stir in the sour cream.
9. Layer the fudge frosting in between the two cakes.
10. To make the AMERICAN FROSTING add all the ingredients to a bowl, over a pan of water. Whisk for 10 -15 minutes until the frosting is thick and creamy.  Use the frosting immediately as it will set easily!
11. Spread the American Frosting over the cake and smooth using a hot and damp palette knife.
12. To make the decorations melt the chocolate and then spread over a piece of tin foil. Refrigerate. When the chocolate is hard, cut out your desired shape, and pipe on faces ect.  



Halloween Cake:
with dark chocolate bats and a white chocolate moon



Chocolate Caliente (pronounced: chock-o-LAHT-tey cal-ee-ent-aye.)

One of my biggest memories from Spain is the Chocolate Caliente (Hot chocolate).

Some would say I had a 'Goldilocks' experience. I tried many different hot chocolates; from the thin 'Cola Cao' (a powder that you mix into hot milk) to the really thick hot chocolate that is served with Churros. For me, my favorite would be a drink with a consistency somewhere in the middle of those two; thicker than the Cola Cao, but thinner than the 'Churros hot chocolate'.

Side note: Churros is fried dough covered in sugar- similar to a doughnut. These are dipped into a very thick chocolate drink. They are very easy to make, but they need to be shallow fried.

Churros and hot chocolate

In my kitchen I wanted to create a chocolate drink that was easy to make, and had my desired thickness. After a lot of research on the Internet into different types of chocolate and gathering recipes,  I chose 3 main chocolate:

1. Cocoa powder 
2. Chocolate a la taza (a Spanish chocolate that has starch in it)
3. Dark chocolate

Just back . . .

After wondering through the Salamanca area of Madrid, Spain, I stumbled across a store called MADRID CUPCAKE. Here is the link (http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.cupcakemadrid.com/&ei=0TzJTJH8FJCTjAfvyLm_Dw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB8Q7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMAdrid%2Bsupcakes%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGLL_enGB336GB336%26prmd%3Div)
It was a very cute store selling cupcakes, all looking too beautiful to eat. At that moment I walked into the shop and choose the Malteser cupcake. (Click on the link above and then click on Gallery and it is the second picture down on the right ) With my expectations high I bite into the cupcake. It was nothing like I expected. It was plain . . . simple . . . boring.  I was thoroughly disappointed. The cupcake was a simple chocolates sponge with vanilla butter cream and a malteser on top. The cupcake was so simple that nearly anybody could have made it.

I leave you with the challenge to make a Malteser cupcake, that is something different!

Nutty Apple and Blackberry Crumble Cake

This is a lovely autum cake, great with freshly picked blackberries!

Ingredients:

• 175g unsalted butter
• 150g golden caster sugar , plus 1tbsp
• 4 eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges
• 3 largeeggs, beaten
• 200g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• 150g yoghurt
• 150g blackberries 
• 3-4 tbsp clear honey 
• crème fraîche or double cream, to serve

CRUMBLE TOPPING

• 100g unsalted butter
• 100g soft brown sugar
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 150g plain flour
• 100g blanched pecans, toasted and roughly chopped

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line a 20cm springform tin with baking parchment.
2. To make the crumble topping, melt the butter, then mix in the soft brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and chopped pecans. Heat 25g of butter in a large frying pan. Add 1 tbsp caster sugar and the apple wedges. Cook for about 10 minutes until the apples are tender and golden. Leave to cool.
3. Beat together the remaining butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in the eggs. Then mix in the flour and baking powder. Add the yogurt and mix until smooth.
4. Spoon roughly two-thirds of the cake mixture into the tin, spread level and scatter over one-third of the crumble, covering the cake. Top with the remaining cake mixture and level again. Scatter on  the apple wedges and blackberries on top. Finally top with the remaining crumble.
5. Bake for about 1 hour. Loosely cover the top of the cake with a sheet of baking parchment or foil halfway through the cooking time if it is browning too quickly or to stop the pecans burning.
6. Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes and then transfer to a serving plate. Warm the honey in a pan and drizzle over the cake. Serve warm with a bowl of crème fraîche or lightly whipped double cream.



Apple and Blackberry Cake



Chocolate Eclairs

Here is a yummy scrummy recipe for Eclairs. They are not the easiest thing to make but after a little bit a practise they are very easy!
It is the water in the Eclair mixture, with evaporates whilst it is cooking and leaves a hollow middle.

Ingredients:
FOR THE CHOUX PASTRY:
1/4pint water
2oz margarine
pinch of salt
2 small eggs
2 1/2oz plain flour
FOR THE FILLING
50g chocolate
100ml double cream or whipping cream

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 220 degrees C. Prepare a baking sheet with grease proof paper. If you want to draw lines along the sheet 2 -3cm apart, so when you pipe the eclairs they are all the same length.
2. Put the water, margarine and salt in a large pan. Heat until the margarine melts. Then bring the mixture to a  boil. Remove from the heat.
3. Quickly beat in the flour all at once. Continue beating until the mixture falls away from the edges of the pan and comes together to form a ball. Do not over beat. (To help prevent this, stop beating immediately after the mixture start to come away from the edge)
4. Cool the mixture. (The mixture should be cool to the touch) Then beat in the eggs gradually until the pastry is smooth, glossy and can still hold a shape.  All the egg may not be needed. Make sure the mixture does not turn into a runny mess by adding to much egg.
5. Now spoon the mixture into a piping bag, with a large nozzle.
6. Pipe out eclairs which are about 2cm -  3cm in length. Make sure they are all similar in size as this will make cooking them easier.
7. Place them in the oven for 15- 20 mins or until golden brown. Remove from the oven. Do not open the oven door whilst they are cooking as this will affect the cooking.
8. After taking the eclairs out of the oven make a hole in the side with a chopstick or something similar. This will let the steam escape from the middle.  Then place them back in the turned off oven for about 5 minutes to dry out the botoms. Cool.
9. Whip 50ml of the double cream. Make the ganache by melting the chocolate and then adding the rest of the cream (50ml).  The ganache should turn shinny and thick.
10. Place the whipped cream in a piping bag, with a small nozzle.
11. Either pipe the cream in the hole that was made to let the steam out, or cut the eclairs in half and using a knife put some cream in the middle.  Then smooth ganache over the top.
12. Tada!!! You have some eclairs!

Eclair

Troubleshooting:

• If the mixture did not hold its shape or collapsed after they were taken out of the oven then there was to much egg in the mixture.

Smartie Shortbread

It's been a while but here is a recipe for shortbread which is really nice. Cut them into little 3 cm rounds and add a  smarties in the middle or simply dusting with sugar, both are equally nice!

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter

60g castor sugar
60g rice flour
125g plain flour

Method:

1. Heat the oven at 160 degrees C.
2. The easiest way is to put all the ingredients into a food processor and mix for about 10 minutes, until it comes together as a dough. If the mixture doesn't come together then add a few drops of milk.
3. Roll the dough out to about a centimeter thick and cut out small circles about 3 cm in diameter. and lay on a baking sheet. Dust with sugar or add a smartie.
4. Cook for 35 miniutes, or until a pale golden colour.
5.  Cool and ENJOY!

Smartie and sugar Shortbread

Or a alternative idea . . .

Shortbread dipped and drizzled in chocolate