My apologies for the delay in posting my Halloween Cake! Here it is in the full scrumptious goryness.
Recipe
My own recipe
Serves 8-10
For the white chocolate skull, mice and hands etc:
approx 300g white chocolate, broken into pieces
1. Make the chocolate in advance. Gently melt 250g of the chocolate over a bain mairie, a heatproof bowl over a pan of just simmering water. Stir the chocolate, and when melted, add the extra 100g, taking it off the heat but continuing to stir until melted.
2. When all the white chocolate has melted smoothly, carefully spoon it into silicone moulds. Place the filled moulds on a plate in the fridge for half an hour, before unmoulding. Don't touch them too much when unmoulding as the heat of your hands may soften them. When unmoulded, place the figures back in the fridge on a plate until ready to use.
You can make the hands by just spreading melted chocolate onto a baking tray and refridgerate in the same way, without the use of moulds.
for the cake base:
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
200g golden caster sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated zest of half a lemon
3 tablespoons raspberry jam
3. Turn the oven to 170C (150C fan ovens), and grease and line a normal baking tin.
4. Cream the butter and sugar together for at least 3 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
5. Add the first egg to the creamed mixture, then sieve in a little of the flour and beat well. Once combined, add the 2nd egg one with tablespoon of flour, and beat again. Add the last egg, beating hard until the mixture is light and frothy.
6. Stir in the lemon zest and the vanilla extract.
7. Next sift in the rest of the flour, stirring in a bit at a time. Remember to add the baking powder! I forgot, resulting in a rather flat cake.
8. Stir in the lemon juice, combining into the batter.
9. Spoon half the batter into the prepared baking tin. Then dot the raspberry jam into the batter, using a skewer or teaspoon to swirl it around. Spoon the rest of the batter ontop, before smoothing it down evenly with a spatula.
10. Place in the oven to bake for about 45 minutes, checking it briefly after 35 minutes. Cover with foil if the top is browning too quickly in the final 10 minutes. You'll know it's done when the top bounces back under your finger and a skewer comes out clean.
11. Once baked, let the cake rest in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove to continue cooling on the rack.
for the raspberry compote topping:
400g raspberries, washed
300g caster sugar
12. When the cake is cool, put the raspberries in a pan with the caster sugar, and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat down to simmer gently for approx 6 minutes until the raspberries are giving out their lovely pink juice. Squash them with a fork and then push them through a sieve with a bowl underneath to catch all the juices.
13. Spoon the raspberry compote over the cake, letting it drip down the sides.
Or of course, you could just spread more jam over the top of the cake.
14. To finish, place the white chocolate skull, mice and hands firmly onto the cake. Serve with creme fraiche or cream.
This cake was idly baked to Joy Division's album Still
