Crafty Cookies Kitchen

Halloween Owl Cakes

These little cup cakes make a great addition to the Halloweem tea time table as a treat for the children (and slightly older ones too).

Ingredients
Cakes
5oz (140g) softened butter
5oz (140g) caster sugar
3 medium beaten eggs
4oz (110g) self raising flour
1oz (28g) cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Icing
5oz (140g) softened butter
5oz (140g) icing sugar
1 tube of ready made orage icing
36 malteeser sweets
36 milk chocolate button sweets
16 orange jelly diamonds

Method
1 Into a large mixing bowl place the butter, sugar and eggs.
2 Place a sieve over the bowl.
3 Into the sieve place the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, push these ingredients through the sieve into the mixing bowl.
4 Beat all the ingredients together with a hand mixer for 2 - 3 minutes or until the mixture is paler and exctreemly smooth.
5 Place a tablespoon of the mixture until the cake cases are 2/3 full, repeat until all of the mixture is used up.
6 Bake immediately at 190 degrees centigrade/gas mark 5 for 10 - 14 minutes or until well risen and when pressed lightly the sponge should spring back up.
7 Place the baking sheets on wire cooling racks and leave for a couple of minutes.
8 Place the cupcakes onto the wire cooling rack to cool completely.9 In a medium sized bowl add the softenend butter
10 Place a seive over the bowl and spoon in the sugar, push the sicing sugar through the sieve with a wooden spoon.
11 Beat these together well until pale and fluffy.
12 Slice the risen top off the top of the cupcakes.
13 Cut the tops into 2 and reserve to one side.
14 Using a pallette knife spread some of the icing onto each of the cupcakes.
15 Place a small blob of orange icing onto a malteser.
16 Place a chocolate button on top of the orange icing.
17 Repeat stages 15 and 16 until all the maleteesers and chocolate buttons are used up.
18 Take 2 of the cut halves of sponge cake tops and place on top of the cake about 1/3 from the top.
19 Place a decorated malteeser underneath the sponge cake half.
20 Finally place a jellied diamond half way between the malteesers.
21 Repeat stagtes 19 and 20 until all the cakes are decorated.

Makes 14 - 16 cakes

NOTES
Using margarine is ok, but beware, margarine has more water in it than butter, so the taste and the texture will be altered.

Golden caster sugar or soft brown sugar may be used instead.Plain flour maybe used but increase the amount of baking powder to a heaped teasoon.

These little cup cakes make a great addition to the Halloween tea time table as a treat for the children (and slightly older ones too well hubby loved them as much as our young son and his friends!).

Ingredients
Cakes
5oz/140g butter at room temperature
5oz/140g caster sugar
3 medium beaten eggs
4oz/110g self raising flour
1oz/28g cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Icing
5oz/140g butter at room temperature
5oz/140g icing sugar
1 tube of ready made orage icing
36 malteeser sweets
36 milk chocolate button sweets
16 orange jelly diamonds

Method
1 Into a large mixing bowl place the butter, sugar and eggs.
2 Place a sieve over the bowl.
3 Into the sieve place the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, push these ingredients through the sieve into the mixing bowl.
4 Beat all the ingredients together with a hand mixer for 2 - 3 minutes or until the mixture is paler and exctreemly smooth.
5 Place a tablespoon of the mixture until the cake cases are 2/3 full, repeat until all of the mixture is used up.
6 Bake immediately at 190 degrees centigrade/gas mark 5 for 10 - 14 minutes or until well risen and when pressed lightly the sponge should spring back up.
7 Place the baking sheets on wire cooling racks and leave for a couple of minutes.
8 Place the cupcakes onto the wire cooling rack to cool completely.
9 In a medium sized bowl add the softenend butter
10 Place a seive over the bowl and spoon in the sugar, push the sicing sugar through the sieve with a wooden spoon.
11 Beat these together well until pale and fluffy.
12 Slice the risen top off the top of the cupcakes.
13 Cut the tops into 2 and reserve to one side.
14 Using a pallette knife spread some of the icing onto each of the cupcakes.
15 Place a small blob of orange icing onto a malteser.
16 Place a chocolate button on top of the orange icing.
17 Repeat stages 15 and 16 until all the maleteesers and chocolate buttons are used up.
18 Take 2 of the cut halves of sponge cake tops and place on top of the cake about 1/3 from the top.
19 Place a decorated malteeser underneath the sponge cake half.
20 Finally place a jellied diamond half way between the malteesers.
21 Repeat stagtes 19 and 20 until all the cakes are decorated. Makes 14 - 16 cakes

Notes
Using margarine is ok, but beware, margarine has more water in it than butter, so the taste and the texture will be altered, hard margerine from a block is better than the soft.

Golden caster sugar or soft brown sugar may be used instead but the colour will change.

Plain flour maybe used but increase the amount of baking powder to a heaped teasoon.

It was my son that named this drink one halloween and it slowly became a regular drink every 30th October.

Ingredients
1 1/2lbs (750g) peeled, cored and sliced cooking apples
2 x 16oz (450g)bottles of ginger ale
1 lemon peeled rind and juice
8oz/250g golden granulated sugar

Method
1 Put the apples into a saucepan.
2 Add half a pint of water and sugar.
3 Add the lemon rind and juice to the saucepan
4 Cover the saucepan.
5 Cook gently over a low heat until the apples soften (about 5 to 10 minutes).
6 Remove the lemon rind from the saucepan.
7 Place the apples into a sieve.
8 Push the apple mixture through the sieve into a bowl.
9 Add the juice from the saucepan and mix thoroughly.
10 Allow to cool completely.
11 Chill the juice in the fridge.
12 Pour into a flask or shaker.
13 Give the apple juice a good shake.
14 Pour the juice into chilled glasses.
15 Top up with ginger ale.

Serves 8 people

Seasonal Produce for Great Britiain for October.

Fish - Cod, Dover sole, eels, squid, turbot.

Fruit - Apples, Bramley apples, bullaces, conference pears, Cox's Orange Pippin apples, crab apples, cranberries, damsons, elderberries, figs, pears, plums, pomegranates, quinces, rowanberries,. satsumas, sloes, tomatoes.

Game - Grouse, guinea fowl, hare, partridge, pheasant, venison.

Nuts - Chestnuts, cobnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts.

Poultry - Duck, goose. ShellfishBrown crab, mussels, native oysters.

Vegetables - Aubergines, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, cardoons, celariac, celery, cep mushrooms, chantrelle mushrooms, chicory, courgettes, fennell, leeks, girolle mushrooms, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, marrows, parsnips, pepper, pumpkin, red cabbage, salsify, Savoy cabbage, shallots, squash, swede, sweet potatoes, watercress, white cabbage, winter squash..