The Halloween countdown is near, and if you've got a hungry little goblin at home, chef Annabel Karmel, author of “The Complete Party Planner,” has a few tricks and treats that are sure to thrill their taste buds. Learn how to make ghoulish ghost cakes and chocolate spider cakes for a fun and delicious holiday:
Recipe: Ghoulish ghost cakes (on this page) Recipe: Chocolate spider cakes (on this page)Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, adding a tablespoon of flour with each egg. Beat well and fold in the remaining flour.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spoon the batter into 10 greased and floured dariole moulds till just over half full. Place on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Allow to cool, cut off the top of the cakes to form a flat surface, then turn out onto a board or plate. Allow to cool completely.
Dust your work surface with cornstarch and roll out the icing.
Cut out 8x6'' circles. You can use a saucer as a guide.
Drape these over the sponge cakes to form ghosts. From the trimmings either use a mini cutter to cut out some tiny white oval shapes or roll out some tiny balls of white icing into oval shapes.
Dampen them with a little water and stick them onto the front of the ghost.
Use a blob of black writing icing for the pupils of the eyes.
Makes 10 cakes
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 muffin pans with 16 paper liners.
Put the chocolate, butter and sugar in a heatproof bowl and melt, stirring frequently. You can melt the chocolate in the microwave (about 3 minutes, stirring after each minute) or over a pan of warm water (make sure the base of the bowl doesn't touch the water). Leave to cool slightly.
Whisk together the eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Stir this into the cooled chocolate.
Put the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a strainer or sifter and sift over the chocolate mixture, then fold in, along with the milk chocolate (if using). Spoon into the paper liners, filling to around 2/3 full (an ice-cream scoop is good for this).
Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, until the muffins are risen and just firm to the touch. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Now for the decoration: Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Using a palette knife or flexible spatula, cover each cake with some of the melted chocolate.
Arrange eight licorice strips for the spider's legs and stick a mallowmar in the center of each. finish with licorice allsorts and chocolate candy eyes. You can use a blob of writing icing to stick the candy on the licorice allsort.
Makes 16 cakes
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