Bonfire Feast: Sticky Stem Ginger Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting

This is the final recipe in my Bonfire Feast series and its quite the showstopper. The word I would use to describe this cake is wicked! Rich, dark and spicy ginger cake is topped with an indulgent, sweet/bitter salted caramel butter cream frosting making the perfect centerpiece for a Bonfire Feast!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

230g self raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground mixed spice

110g unsalted butter, diced

110g black treacle

110g golden syrup

110g light brown sugar

280ml milk

50g (abour 3 chunks) drained stem ginger, chopped into small pieces

1 large egg

For the frosting:

125g light brown sugar

75ml double cream

70g butter, softened

1tsp sea salt

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C, grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.

2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and all the spices into a large bowl, mix together and rub in the diced butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the chopped stem ginger

3. In a saucepan melt together the treacle and golden syrup, then leave to cool slightly. Meanwhile in another saucepan heat the sugar and the milk over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat and leave to cool.

4. Using a balloon whisk, whisk the milk mixture into the flour mixture, then whisk in the treacle mixture, followed by the egg. Mix really well, and once everything is thoroughly blended you will have a very thin, almost liquid batter.

5. Pour the mixture into the tin and place in the middle of the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin - the cake will shrink slightly as it cools. 

6. While the cake is cooling make the salted caramel. Do this by heating the sugar, cream and salt over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to bubble for a couple of minutes then remove from the heat and leave to cool completely. Once the cake is totally cool, beat the butter until smooth and fluffy, then beat in the salted caramel. You will have a very thick butter cream frosting. 

7. Smooth the frosting over the top of the cake and sprinkle with whatever you fancy to decorate. I've used ground macadamia nuts, but a further sprinkling of coarse sea salt, some ginger pieces or even grated chocolate would work well too.

You can eat this cake on the day of making, but it is so so much better if you wrap before you frost it in greaseproof paper and leave for a couple of days before spreading with frosting and tucking in. 

Bonfire Feast: Slightly Spicy Wholemeal Vegetable Pasties

These pasties were my first foray into crimping, and there is definitely a technique to it! I don't think I'm quite there yet, but I will say that I found crimping a really therapeutic thing to do - like with baking bread, there is a nice process involved in making these pasties and I hope you enjoy baking them as much as I do! 

 The pastry in these pasties is a little old school in that it uses suet as well as butter, but the result is a lovely crisp yet crumbly pastry, which is wrapped around a filling of vegetables flavoured with curry paste. This recipe is easily adaptable so you can add whatever veggies you want, or you could even chuck some cooked chicken or beef in there too! You end up with a slightly spicy pasty, great for warming you up on a chilly autumn evening, and even better to munch on during a firework display.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

140g wholemeal plain flour

140g plain white flour

85g butter, diced

85g shredded vegetable suet

75ml milk

For the filling:

2 medium sized white potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks

1 red onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

half a head of broccoli, cut into small florets

a handful of frozen peas

3tbsp curry paste (I used a korma paste)

1 egg, beaten

- These vegetables are just a suggestion, but you can chuck in whatever you've got lying around. You can also use whichever curry paste you prefer - 

Makes 6 pasties

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C, grease a baking tray.

2. To make the pastry place all the ingredients except the milk into a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly add the milk a little at a time until the pastry comes together (If you don't have a food processor, rub the flours together with the butter and suet until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs and add the milk until the pastry comes together), turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until soft. Wrap in clingfilm and chill while you make the filling.

3. Heat a pan of salted water and add the potato and sweet potato. Boil for 8 minutes until almost cooked, then add the carrots, broccoli and peas. Cook for a further 5 minutes until all the vegetables are soft, then drain.

4. Whilst your vegetables are boiling, heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan and cook the red onion until soft. Add the curry paste and cook for a further minute or so then add the drained vegetables with a splash of water and cook for another couple of minutes, until all the veggies are coated and your kitchen smells awesome. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

5. Next roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface, to about a ½ cm thickness. Place a cereal bowl rim side down on the pasty and cut around it using a knife. This will leave you with a large circle of pastry. Place this circle on a baking tray and place about 2 spoonfuls of vegetable mixture in the centre of the circle. Brush around the edges with milk and fold over to make a parcel, now crimp around the pastry to seal in the mixture - the easiest way to do this is to pinch and fold your way around the semi-circle. 

6. Repeat this for the remaining pasties, then place on the baking tray and brush liberally with the beaten egg. Place in the centre of the oven and cook for 25-30 minutes, until the pasties are golden brown. 

The pasties can be eaten straight away, or left to cool and reheated to piping hot in the oven. Great for keeping your hands (and your belly!) warm while you stand outside enjoying the fireworks.

Bonfire Feast: Magic Stars Mini Cupcakes

I love Bonfire Night, its one of my favourite nights of the year. Not only am I a sucker for twinkly fireworks, but I love the story of the Gunpowder Plot. I remember being taught about it in first school and it totally captured my imagination. This week I've got some Bonfire Night themed recipes for you, whether you're having your own display at home (I am tonight, I've got the sparklers ready!), going out with friends, or just enjoying a cosy night in.

To kick off this mini-series I've got these seriously cute Magic Stars Mini Cupcakes. Perfect for little hands, these cute cakes are topped with chocolate ganache and a sprinkling of popping candy - they're very quick to make too, so you can spend more time building that bonfire!

Ingredients:

1 egg
Margarine or butter
Caster sugar
Self-rasing flour
Cocoa powder

For the chocolate ganche topping:
75ml double cream
50g dark chocolate

To decorate:
Magic Stars
Popping Candy

Makes 20 mini cupcakes

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C, line a mini cupcake tin.

2. Weigh the egg in its shell. Make a not of the measurement and weigh your margarine, sugar and flour to the same amount. Cream together the sugar and margarine until light and fluffy and beat in the egg, adding a tablespoon of cocoa powder. Once the egg and cocoa are fully incorporated fold in the flour.

3. Place teaspoonfuls of mixture into the cupcake tin and bake for 15-17 minutes, until the cakes are risen and  springy to touch. Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack and leave to cool.

4. Whilst the cakes are cooling make the chocolate ganache. Place the cream into a saucepan and heat until just before boiling. Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl. Add the hot cream to the chocolate and stir until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy. Leave to cool and thicken.

5. Once the cakes have cooled, spread a little of the ganache over the top, add some magic stars and popping candy and enjoy!

Quick side-note: If you are using popping candy, don't add it to the cakes until just before you eat them. If not it goes all melty and funny on top of the cakes - it is still edible in its melty state, but the cakes aren't the prettiest!