You’ll have to forgive me this continuing theme this week. To those new to the site, I usually alternate a cooking story with a restaurant review but this week I’m taken by Hallowe’en. Utterly besotted by it in fact. Hallowe’en along with Christmas are my favourite holidays of the year. So I hope you’ll forgive the onslaught of Hallowe’en themed food. I promise you that as soon as the clock strikes midnight on Hallowe’en we’ll return back to “normal” (whatever that may have been for me).
The idea is from Claire Crespo’s Hey There Cupcake! book, the book for all mad and wonderful cupcake decorating ideas. To avoid having a complete breakdown, I made these ahead of time so I needed a dense and moist cake that would last a few days. I used a white chocolate mud cake and at my husband’s suggestion, some red food colouring to simulate the red veins in an eyeball or blood spatter (I blame my Dexter addiction).
The first lot I made wasn’t quite risen enough as I filled it 2/3 of the way full. I found that filling it 3/4 of the way up with only a few millimetres to spare at the top actually worked better. The recipe is from the Crabapple bakery’s White chocolate mud recipe although the recipe below makes 14 suitably domed cupcakes. The domed cupcakes are what you really need for the eyeball to take full effect. And let me wish you a very spooky Halloween coming up this Friday!
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An invite to the launch of the Allrecipes Australian website is exciting especially as it’s paired up with fellow food bloggers, friendly industry people, lovely journalists and food in a lovely setting. This evening, we’re led up several flights of stairs to a softly decorated room, much like someone’s living room, decorated with sparkling fairy lights dotting the sky with a long table strewn with chilis. I meet Ian Hemphill and his lovely wife Liz. Ian is the face of Herbies who provided us with 2 Spice Kits for our competition. He is just as affable and friendly as he is on TV and passionately devoted to food and he is scheduled to give a little speech tonight.
My fellow food bloggers tonight are Suze from ChocolateSuze; Christie from Fig & Cherry; Helen from Grab Your Fork; Kathryn from Limes & Lycopene; Anna from Morsels and Musings and Lisa from Spicy Icecream.
Jamaican Prawns
Kangaroo Tostada
We’re served a selection of food made from recipes on the website. There’s Grilled Kangaroo and Cactus Tostada and Jamaican Prawns but my pick is most definitely the Chili Chocolate Brownies, the Brownies crunchy on top and the inside gooey and gorgeous. It’s so soft that taking your fork and transporting it to your mouth is a hard task and it’s fall-apart gorgeous. I usually sample a dessert but this time I’m finishing this baby myself and not giving up an inch of it.
When I get home I know what my mission is: it’s to make these Brownies again as I know my husband, one of those men that loves eating “foods that may kill you or at least make you look brave or crazy eg Durian or 75% dark chocolate”, loves Chili Chocolate. The chili in this brownie is not a subtle afterkick, it is present during every step of the way so if you prefer a more subtle aftertaste, you may want to adjust the quantities (start with 1/4 teaspoon and taste the batter but the chili taste will be milder when the batter is uncooked).
I didn’t find that I got the crunchy top with my brownies, although the gooey chocolateyness was definitely there as was the chili hit as promised. As mentioned, the chili flavour does deepen on cooking so just be aware when you make your brownies that when you taste the raw batter it’s milder.
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One of the most exciting parts of friends having little humans is the fact that I can now expand my cake making to include baby themed decorations. I’ve found that if there are no babies present, it seems a little odd to do make an adult a baby themed cake or cupcake-especially if it’s a man.
Baby Audrey Louise’s 1st Birthday was certainly cause for a new cake. And it’s a cake I had been dying to make for months, having finally thought of a new use for the Wilton Giant cupcake pan that I got for my birthday a while back. I rang every store that I knew looking for a Carousel Horse to no avail so I headed where any good baker does and went to ebay (a site I have a love hate relationship with) and found a seller selling a vintage Hallmark Rocking Horse cutter. Once my big box of cutters arrived I ripped open each tissue paper wrapped cutter in search of the rocking horse. I cut it out and it looked great and cut so cleanly and evenly and also had the markings on the horse.
Making the carousel horses was fairly easy once I had the cutter. I’ve given directions on how to do the horses although you will need some sort of horse cutter. I realise that Rocking Horses are in fact different to Carousel horses but I’m hoping you will forgive the slight. I’ve given instructions on how to make the horses and the carousel, although I know it’s by no means perfect or even vaguely passable as a real store bought cake, I’m sure you can improve on my version.
The giant cupcake recipe is one adapted from the Crabapple Cupcakes book for a white chocolate mud cake. I added honey as it seemed appropriate for a sweet baby girl’s 1st birthday. Their recipe specified 4 cups of sugar which seemed too much so I halved it and made some of the sweetness from honey. The cake itself is lovely and dense with a crunchy crust.
I won’t lie, it’s a fiddly cake that requires lots of hours but it was rewarding if exhausting. I will suggest that you affix the fondant onto the serving platter. I wanted to put this on a cake stand but I just couldn’t bring myself to move it, just in case…if something fell off I would myself have a child size tantrum.
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Daylight Savings does something strange to me. For those of you who are not familiar with the concept, it’s where during Summer we wind back the clocks and get some extra sunshine so that daylight extends to about 8pm every night. I recall explaining the concept to some schoolchildren in Japan who looked at me like I was completely bonkers and I’m sure muttered to themselves about how could Australians mess around with nature and time like that. Nevertheless, during Winter all I want to do is hide under the quilt. In Summer, when the sun is shining, I’m prone to some evening baking, my body and mind being fooled into thinking it’s still the afternoon and I’ve got energy to spare.
This is barely a cake, more a gigantic chocolate truffle in cake form with a marshmallowy meringue base. Which is why of course I thought it was perfect to make this warm Spring evening when I only needed to turn the oven on for 20 minutes to do the base. I added Lavender as I love mixing floral flavours with cakes but of course you could leave it out altogether and substitute the Glucose Syrup and Lavender essence with Nigella’s original 60ml Rum and 60ml Golden syrup.
I had forgotten (probably deliberately) that I had made this cake before. I made it years ago when Feast first came out and I made it in white chocolate form. I recalled something a bit odd about this cake. What it was was the texture. Instead of making it a smooth creamy truffle base, it became lumpy. This was because I’d let the chocolate cool too much before folding in the cream so the chocolate seized so don’t wait or delay when mixing the two. A quick consultation with Y confirmed this.
It’s very rich, need I say that so serving a small slice might be more prudent than a large, however it is also silkily good and smooth. Out of the fridge it’s firmer and more cake like but in the heat be mindful of the fact that it can melt quickly (but still hold its shape somewhat). I suspect that won’t be a problem for most, a cake this good doesn’t stick around to melt.
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I know, I know, how “out of Vogue” is Pavlova? Never really seen on a restaurant menu unless in the form of a Eton mess or another deconstructed form, it’s more the territory of the dessert at an RSL or a budget conscious wedding. But if you allow me your honour to make my case, may I say that the proof is most definitely in the pudding or I should be more clear, in the requests for seconds. I recently served this up to guests who were at first curious at my retro choice but then each pushed their plates forward to gladly accept seconds. I’ve made Nigella’s Chocolate and Raspberry Pavlova too to a similar ovation. Perhaps I secretly like the aghast look on people’s faces and then the expression of embarrassment when they remember how good Pavlova actually is.
I know that Stephanie Alexander suggests flipping the pavlova upside down which actually makes sense but for this square shape it wouldn’t do. The fruit used is the most classic Pavlova fruit: strawberries, kiwifruit and passionfruit. Of course you could use any fruit that you have in season and you’d still find it works wonderfully.
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