… you know when you attempt to bake something and it all goes horribly wrong, well today I had an epic Halloween fail. I think it probably has a lot to do with not being totally sure about what I really wanted to bake, thinking that i’d just wing it and see what spooky thing i’d come up with. This was a mistake and a lesson that, in baking one should really start out knowing exactly what one is preparing to make. What I really wanted to do was top last years spiders web bundt cake, which looked almost too pretty to be scary but worked out so well and this year I thought i’d go for a multitude of cobwebs using my mini bundt tins but the recipe for the sponge I went with failed so spectacularly I had to change tack halfway through… I suppose in a way, with it being Halloween all this was to be expected and actually the end result looks quite fun but it’s the ugliness off it all that works in it’s favour… none of which was planned…
witches eye balls and goblins bones with a chocolate and coconut milk ganache
whilst the cake sponge was not what I was expecting for the original plan it actually tasted delicious and was beautifully light and fluffy with more of a meringue quality than full on sponge… I used some delightful potato flour sent to me by the good people at Doves Farm and along with the organic chocolate this whole bake is gluten free which is a nice surprise and will make perfect fun treats for any halloween parties you’re planning. The eagle-eyed amongst you will observe that the goblin bones are actually a cake that’s sunk along its sides. I cut it into slices not knowing what to do with it and noticed that the slices looked very bone-shaped which worked perfectly for the theme…
for the sponge
3 eggs – separated
5oz caster sugar
the zest of one lemon or small orange
70g potato flour
food colouring of choice
for the chocolate and coconut milk ganache
150g good quality dark chocolate
85ml coconut milk
I used 6 mini bundt tins for the eye sockets and a small alb loaf tin for the bones which were greased appropriately
in a large bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar and lemon or orange zest and whisk for at least 10 minutes until light and thick then gently fold in the flour
in another bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold these into the cake mixture
pour into your cake tins and bake for 25-30 mins… the bunts may take less time and the loaf tin longer but once they have that spongy touch they are ready – set aside to cool in their tins for 5 mins then remove from tins and cool completely – slice the cake into thick bone chunks
to make the ganache, break the chocolate into chunks and place in a bowl then simply heat the coconut milk in a pan until nearly boiling and pour this over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate had melted. Set aside for 5 mins to cool and thicken slightly then dip the bundts and bones into the chocolate and set them aside to cool
i’ve used mint green aero bubbles for the eye balls and little balls of ganache for the irises…
I am of course entering these spooky little treats into the fab We Should Cocoa challenge, founded by Choclette from the Chocolate Log Blog and hosted this month by Hannah from Honey and Dough and also the Treat Petite challenge hosted by Stuart the Cakeyboi and Kat The Baking Explorer as both have selected the theme of Halloween…
eat and of course, enjoy!
