HALLOWEEN: Cake #65 - Mozzarella and Roasted Pepper Cake

Savoury Saturday Cake - Mozzarella and Roasted Pepper Cake with Smoked Paprika, Black Olives and Tortilla Chips.

I think Halloween one of the most relaxed holidays what comes to food. You can put an effort in it but you do not have to - which kind of makes it so grand. I can and I want but I am not expected to make anything specific (like, let's say, Christmas would not be Christmas without gravadlax salmon) so I always end up making lots of things, and I also enjoy making things for Halloween because nobody or rather, nothing, is pushing me. 

I may not need to make any specific dish or cake but I can make a lot of special dishes and cakes. If you know what I mean. 

Halloween is soon here. Whether you celebrate it or not, at least use it as an excuse to bake or cook something Halloweenish. A cake, perhaps?

Mozzarella and Roasted Pepper Cake

150 g soft butter

50 ml soft brown sugar

25 ml dark syrup

2 eggs

½ tsp salt

400 ml plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp smoked paprika

100 ml creme fraiche

200 g grated Mozzarella (leave some to sprinkle on top)

small fresh peppers

black olives

tortilla chips

salsa and creme fraiche to serve

1. Heat the oven to 175 C / 350 F and grease and flour a 20 cm x 20 cm square pan.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients.

3. Cream together butter, sugar and syrup.

4. Add eggs and mix well.

5. Add the dry ingredients, creme fraiche and most of the grated Mozzarella.

6. Pour the mixture into the pan. 

9. Bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes.

10. Sprinkle Mozzarella on top and put back into the oven for another 5 minutes so that the cheese melts.

10. Let cool before removing from pan.

To decorate

1. Roast peppers in hot oven (250 C / 480 F) for about 10 minutes so that they soften a little. 

2. Remove the stems if you like.

3. Decorate the cake with peppers, olives and tortilla chips and serve warm with salsa and creme fraiche.

Cake #64 - Milk Chocolate Cake

Friends First Friday Cake - Milk Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Fingers.

For all hardworking milkmen.

Nearly a year ago somebody rang our doorbell and asked if we would be interested in having our milk delivered to our door by a Milkman three times a week. I asked for an offer and got one which was very good so I said that we could at least see how it works out. This Milkman, that is.

Milkman? 

I could not help having a vision of a chubby old man with a shaky trailer attached to his bicycle coming and leaving a bunch of glass bottles at the door - soon followed by a cat who would knock down one of the bottles and vigorously lick all milk spilled on the ground.

No, no, no. 

Our milkman is a young fella with a car and the milk comes in exactly the same cartons we would buy in the shops. Not only brings he us 5 litres of milk three very early mornings a week but also 2½ dozen free range eggs every Friday. And it really works well.

Every two weeks or so he comes with a bill and I pay him. He says thanks and he smiles and then we see again after two weeks or so for the next payment. Except once there was this girl at the door. I thought she was collecting money for some charity but she was there working for my Milkman, can you imagine! I could hardly speak, I was so.. so disappointed. I did not want any girl, I wanted my Milkman and his smile. 

Despite the girl I baked this cake for all hardworking Milkmen. (Because of the girl I ate the cake myself.)

Milk Chocolate Cake

100 g soft butter
100 g light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp cream
100 g self-raising flour
25 g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 180⁰C / 350⁰F.
2. Grease and flour a  Ø 20 cm cake pan.
3. Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat well together.
4.  Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes and let cool.

Frosting
75 g butter
100 g milk chocolate
30 ml cream
250 g icing sugar

2 packs milk chocolate fingers, I used Cadbury's

1. Melt the butter and chocolate with the milk in a bowl.
2. Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa into the bowl with the chocolate mixture and beat well. 
3. Cut the cake into two layers.
4. Sandwich the layers together with one third of the frosting and then cover the cake with the rest. 
5. Place the milk chocolate fingers on the sides of the cake.
6. Decorate the cake with melted chocolate using a piping pen if you like.

Cake #63 - Lemon Meringue Cat

Thursday Cat Theme Cake - Lemon Meringue Cat.

Bake a Lemon Meringue Pie disguised as a cat and call it a cake. Doomed to fail. Do not try this at home. Just bake a normal Lemon Meringue cake/pie/whatever.

This is one of the ugliest cakes I have ever made but it tasted great! Hopefully by tomorrow I have forgotten that I even published these pictures. 

And I am so happy we just ate this cake and could not keep it, too.

Lemon Meringue Cat

Base

150 ml plain flour

100g cold butter, cut in small pieces

50 ml granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

1. Preheat the oven to 175 C / 350 F and grease a Ø 23 springform pan.

2. Mix all ingredients together and spred in the bottom of the pan.

3. Bake the base in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Filling

2  tbsp cornflour

125 ml caster sugar

grated zest of 2 lemons

125ml fresh lemon juice 

juice 1 small orange

50 g butter, cut into pieces

4 egg yolks 

1. Mix all ingredients together in a pan and cook over medium heat until thick and smooth.

2. Put aside to cool a little while making the meringue.

White Meringue

3 egg whites

100 ml icing sugar

1. Start beating the egg whites and add icing sugar gradually until thick and firm.

Black Meringue

1 egg white

25 ml icing sugar

1 tsp black food colouring

1. Start beating the egg whites together with the black food colouring and add icing sugar gradually until thick and firm.

To Compile

1. Pour lemon curd over the base.

2. Spread white meringue on top of the lemon curd.

3. Using a piping bag, pipe the black meringue over the white to draw a cat face.

4. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until slightly coloured.

5. Let the cake set in the pan for at least half an hour before removing it - otherwise it will collapse like mine did...

Cake #62 - Carrot and Coconut Cake

Wednesday Natural Ingredient / Healthy Cake - Carrot and Coconut Cake.

When you think about cakes made of natural ingredients, at some point you have to make a carrot cake. Despite of the fact that only rabbits eat carrots, like my younger son said at the age of four. 

After that he has eaten carrots, though. Fresh carrots in his school lunchbox and carrot sticks dipped into a blue cheese dip at dinner. But he does not eat carrot cake. No idea why. Is it because I once made a carrot cake which was quite spicy? Or is it simply because mixing healthy snacks with sweet treats would be suspicious? Like an evil plot - you think you are eating a lovely cake but actually you are eating a healthy vegetable disguised as a cake? 

Carrot and Coconut Cake

3 eggs

250 ml sunflower oil

500 ml plain flour

500 ml granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tsp vanilla sugar

200 ml dessicated coconut

200 ml chopped nuts

500 ml finely grated carrots (about 3 to 4 medium carrots)

100 ml creme fraiche

1. Preheat oven to 175 C / 350 F and grease and flour a 2-litre bundt cake pan.

2. Mix together eggs and sunflower oil.

3. In another bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.

4. Beat all together and fold in grated carrots and creme fraiche.

5. Pour into the pan and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes.

6. Let the cake cool and sieve some icing sugar on before serving.

Cake #61 - LOL

Tuesday Humour Cake - LOL.

Time to bake another funny cake, OMG... WTF could I bake?

JK, of course I have a plan. (TBH, I do not have a plan.)

BTW, what did I bake last week?

IRL, I am just about to bake my cake now... so GTG.

And remember - BFF!!!

You can find the recipe (which I have used several times already but IDC) from here.

Cake #60 - Raspberry Mascarpone Cake

Monday Mood Cake - Raspberry Mascarpone Cake.

"I'm in the mood for love...."

Raspberry Mascarpone Cake

Base
2 large eggs
100 ml granulated sugar
150 ml self-raising flour
50 g butter, melted
25 ml cream
1 tsp red food colouring

Filling
150 g Mascarpone Cheese
3 eggs
50 ml cream
100 ml granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
125 g raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 175C / 350F and grease and flour a Ø 23 cm cake pan.

2. Beat eggs and sugar until white and fluffy.

3. Fold in flour together with melted butter, cream and food colouring.

4. Pour into pan and bake in the oven for 15  minutes.

5. Mix together all ingredients for the filling and pour on the cake base.

6. Put the cake back in the oven and bake another 15-20 minutes until the filling is set.

Cake #59 - Mud Cake

Sunday Classic Cake - Mud Cake with Pomegranate Seeds.

“Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive.” 

― Joanne Harris, Chocolat

Chocolat is a marvellous movie! Not only does it bring together Johnny Depp and chocolate but is also a brilliant story. If you feel dull on a Sunday, bake a chocolate cake and sit down to watch Chocolat. 

Recipe is from here. I did not make any ganache but sprinkled some pomegranate juice on top of the cake, then dusted it with icing sugar and decorated with pomegranate seeds. The cake was served with vanilla ice cream while watching Chocolat for the 109th time (or so).