Halloween Sweet Treats

Trick or treat? This is a definitely a treat, fit for anyones Halloween celebrations, and these will be great to make with children, as a possible substitute for the messy experience of pumpkin carving or perhaps a great complimentary activity to any pre Halloween preparations, to get you in a spooky mood... 
These cupcakes not only taste great for the season, I made the spider cupcakes chocolate flavour and pumpkin cupcakes orange, they look absolutely amazing, especially the pumpkins!
As I write this post i am also trying to prepare for my trip tomorrow to Sardinia, Italy; I hope that this visit there can be incorporated into an upcoming post, let me know through comments or email if you would like this to be a recipe from the area or a post about the area, perhaps just informing you on the lovely island of Sardinia.

Prep 

So as this is a tutorial for the decoration of these particular cupcakes, i won't provide you with a recipe for the cupcakes, as those flavours are for you to decide and experiment. But just to give you an idea, as i said earlier i made chocolate and orange cupcakes which i feel worked very well.
So along with your cupcakes, you will need buttercream icing, i corresponded my flavours with my cupcakes, chocolate and orange, but again it is completely up to you. The amount you need depends on how many cupcakes you make but as a general rule of thumb you will need about a tablespoon of buttercream icing per cupcake.
You may be able to buy the appropriate colours of fondant from a shop but if not, you will need to mix them yourself using white fondant and colouring paste, now I am basing my measurements of the fondant on how many cupcakes i made for this post, which was 12 in total, 6 of each type, so of course adjust it to your requirements . The colours you will need are orange (about a generous fist sized amount), green (plum sized amount), black (about 2 fistfuls), white (a plum sized amount).

Tutorial 

Pumpkin Cupcakes

1. Firstly you will need to ice a flat topped cupcake with about a tablespoon of your desired flavour of buttercream, making sure it is reasonably level.

2. You will need to find a cutter that is slightly larger than your cupcake, i used a pint glass, roll out the orange icing but not too thin, dusting the surface with cornflour, and cut out one circle for each cupcake. Place the circle on top of your iced cupcake and smooth the edges over.
You will see in this picture the tool you will need to use for decorating these cupcakes, i neither know the official name for this or even fathom a made-up one for it, but hopefully you can see what it's like from this picture. If you do not own cake decorating tools then you can use a cocktail stick or the handle of a teaspoon.

3. To create the side view of a pumpkin, etch curved lines into the icing, similar to those in the picture, ensuring you don't press too hard and cut the icing, make 4 bold lies, and between drag the tool lightly to add extra lines and texture.

4. To decorate the pumpkins to look like you're looking down on it, make a indent in the centre of the cupcake with your thumb or finger and use your tool to make lines going from the centre to outside of the cupcake in irregular little segments, again drag the tool lightly to add extra detail and texture.

5. Using the green icing, fashion a leaf and thin green stalk, hold one end of the stalk and twirl it so it looks like a twisted vine like the one pictured above. Make a leaf and vine for each cupcake and using a little dab of water, stick the greenery onto the cupcakes, either at the top or in the centre depending on which view you are creating.

Spider Cupcakes

1. The same with the pumpkin cupcakes ice the spider cupcakes with your buttercream, making sure it is level.

2. Roll out your icing so that it isn't too thick, and again cut it slightly bigger than your cupcake, attach it and smooth down the edges. 

3. You will now have to roll out some black icing into a long sausage and cut that piece into 8 small and equal little lengths. Using a small amount of water stick these legs to edge of the spider, either side in groups of 4. 

4. Now you can get really creative, it is completely up to you what you do regarding the face, just make two little circles out of white fondant and flatten them on the palm of your hand, add some little black pupils, stick these together and on the face using a small amount of water and wherever and however you want and then give them character by choosing different mouths to etch into them, perhaps a smile or a frown or a mouth with fangs? The possibilities are endless!

So i hope you enjoyed this little tutorial on how to make your own spooky halloween treats, I hope you have fun and they work out well, trick or treaters will be very pleased to receive these in their goodie bags! Have a great Halloween everyone! 
Until next time, Elise x

Making, not Baking Houmous

Hello Everyone! 
Now despite the title, I'm not all about baking, even though it is my 'main game', i really am just a foodie, and love everything about it, so not just baked goods! And i thought i would introduce this to you today with a quick Houmous recipe, which is a definite favourite of mine! 









Now I'm not sure how much experience you guys have had with houmous, but i must say now it is a glorious thing, and very versatile, and although shop bought houmous is delicious and easy, there is nothing more satisfying than the achievement of your own pot of houmous sat in front of you. 
So here is a lovely little recipe for houmous, for which all you need is a food processor, it couldn't be simpler! 

Ingredients: 

150g dried chickpeas
100g tahini paste ( tahini is a paste made of sesame seeds, and if you struggle to find this, then it can be replaced by 2 tsp of sesame oil)
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp chilli powder
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil 

1 clove of garlic

A good pinch of salt

Method: 

1. Get out your food Processor 

2. Prepare all your ingredients 

3. Chuck it all in the food Processor, and blitz for a couple of minutes until smooth, scraping down the sides at times. 

4. Put into a serving dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a little chilli powder for garnish. 


And it really is that easy! And the results are great, you won't want to go shop bought again! Well i hope you have enjoyed this little post, and i now hope you won't be too shocked if you see non-baked recipes on my blog! 
Also, very exciting news! On Saturday i will be getting a puppy, a little Boxador none the less, so I'm sure i will be bombarding you with pictures of her, and she definitely isn't baking related!
As always, leave me any comments, i love reading them, until next time, Elise xxx

Oreo Cupcakes

My two favorite things- chocolate and Oreo's, came together the day i found Oreo's on offer. The cream cheese frosting really makes this cupcake a luxury and the hidden Oreo at the bottom is enough to brighten any day.

makes 12 cakes

Ingredients

For the cakes:

100g plain flour

20g bournville cocoa powder

140g caster sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

40g unsalted butter

120ml whole milk

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

2 packets of oreos

For the Frosting: 

100g of softened butter 

300g of soft cheese 

100g of icing sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract 

6 oreos to decorate 

Method: 

1. Measure Out the flour ,cocoa powder,sugar,baking powder,salt and butter in a free standing electric mixer with paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk)and beat on a slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.
2. Whisk the milk,egg,and vanilla extract together in a jug ,then slowly pour about half into the flour mixture,beat to combine and turn the mixer up to high speed (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula).Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth.Do not over mix.
3. Place a whole Oreo at the bottom of each case.Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes,or until the sponge bounces back when touched.A skewer inserted in the center should come out clean.Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
4. For the cream cheese Frosting, whip up the butter until soft and creamy then add in the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract and whip until thick and creamy.
5. Dispense the Frosting into am icing bag with the star nozzle attachment and pipe in swirls on the top. Cut the 6 Oreo's in half and place on top of the cakes.
6. Hope you enjoy this tempting treat, and comment if you have any problems, questions, or suggestions! elise x

Beach Hut Birthday Cake

I made this cake for my little sisters Birthday, and it was served at her beach party. It blended in well down at Hengistbury Head and has a very nice kitch look to it, with the lovely pastel colours.

It is hard how to tell you to do the icing and decorations, and i often find it easier just to look at a picture and copy it, but i will give you some tips at the end. 

Ingredients

For the Cake:

300g sugar 
300g butter 
6 eggs 
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla (or another flavour like lemon zest)
300g self raising flour 

For the Filling:

280g of softened butter 
560g of icing sugar 
couple of tablespoons of milk 
vanilla 
jam of your choice

For the Decoration: 

any jam of your choice or butter cream
a couple of 1kg fondant icing packets 
food colouring: 
blue 
yellow 
pink 
red 
(but by any means change the colours to suit your taste) 

Method: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 180c
 Cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. 

2. Break in the eggs one by one, mixing after each addition (you may want to add a tablespoon of flour at this point to avoid it curdling) 

3. Add in the vanilla, and then sieve in half the flour, folding gently until all incorporated. Add the remaining flour, and mix until all incorporated. 

4. Decanter the mixture into a large greased and lined square tin, and another smaller greased and lined square tin, smooth the tops, and pop into the oven to bake for about 30-40 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean. 

5. Whilst the cakes are cooling, whip together all the ingredients for the butter cream apart from the jam. 
when the cake is cool, cut them in half and fill with butter cream and jam. Shape the smaller of the cakes into a triangle, fit onto the top of the larger one and then cover with the jam of your choice or butter cream.

tips for icing: 

• i would recommend colouring a large amount of icing for your base colour straight away, even if it seems too much, as this means that you wont run the risk of running out and having mis-matched shades of blue. 
• use the back of a knife to make the 'plank' lines on the beach hut 
• paint the red lines on the circle of the life ring 

All of the other elements are pretty self explanatory, but comment if you have any problems!