Lime and Coconut Halloween Slime Ghost Cake

Halloween baking is such fun - you can really push the boundaries of how you would normally decorate a cake, and make it as over the top as you like! Obviously subtle black and purple looks very stylish and striking but this Halloween I decided to go for..... green slime!

The theme for Food 'n' Flix this month is Ghostbusters - the 2016 remake which was chosen by host Coffee and Casseroles. I did enjoy the film and didn't think there was anything odd about an all-female cast - the film was funny, it carried on the ethos of the original Ghostbusters film and there were even several nods to the original - which I won't spoil if you haven't seen it, but you will have fun spotting the cameo roles to the extent that I'd worked out who Patty's uncle was (who she refers to a few times) long before he appears on screen!

My heart is loyal to the original Ghostbusters though (the first one anyway, not the sequel - which I don't remember being that bad but is largely panned). It came out when I was five years old so I don't imagine I would have seen it right away, but by the time it was shown on TV (in the days of only four channels, you had to wait a couple of years for new movies to appear on screen!) I would have been about seven or eight and was transfixed. I even used to run around the playground at primary school with a group of friends acting out Ghostbusters stories - though as one of the only girls I was always forced to be Janine. Though it could have been worse, the other girl played Slimer!

In terms of choosing a recipe for Food 'n' Flix, my mind turned straight away to the Stay Puffed Marshmallow man from the first movie... from the remake, one of the over-riding foodie references is to Chinese takeout - there's a standing joke about takeaway food that Abby (Melissa McCarthy) gets from a Chinese restaurant, and their HQ is above a Chinese restaurant.

But as it's Halloween I wanted to make something 'spooky' and not Chinese food. Slimer, the friendly green ghost, features in both the original movie and the remake, so I took him as my inspiration and decided to make a cake oozing with green 'slime' buttercream!

For the cake itself I used this recipe from RTE for Irish chef Rory O'Connell's toasted coconut and lime cake though I did change it a little. I didn't cover it with the toasted coconut and I didn't make the cream cheese filling and instead did a lime flavoured buttercream which I then added green food colouring to.

 

Despite being green the cake looks quite elegant like this... but I wasn't going to stop there!

 

On top of the cake there is more green buttercream, plus some green candy floss I bought in a tub from a shop called Tiger and some marshmallow ghosts and chocolate eyeballs, also from Tiger.

Does it look like Slimer has been at this cake?!

I'm sharing this with Food 'n' Flix and Cook Blog Share.

 



Sugar-Free Coconut Milk Pancakes

My last-ditch attempt to lose weight before my wedding involves cutting out as much sugar as possible. A friend who has done this, and seen great results, recommended a book called I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson.  Sarah cut sugar out of her diet and says she has seen improvements in her weight, energy, skin and so on, and has published a book that is part explanation, part cookbook.

I liked the sound of these 'coconut fluff' coconut milk pancakes so I made them one day recently for lunch, and served them with stewed apple.

You need:
2 eggs, whisked
400ml can coconut milk
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted, plus extra for frying
30g coconut flour
100g buckwheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
50g shredded coconut

The coconut flour was expensive (£5 for a bag in Sainsbury's) but I plan to find lots of other recipes I can use it in.

These are easy to make: beat the eggs with the coconut milk and the oil, then fold in the other ingredients. I found the mixture thickened quickly, as the coconut soaked up the liquid, so added some milk. I'd recommend not leaving the mixture to stand and making the pancakes immediately.

Heat a little coconut oil in a frying pan and spoon or pour in enough of the mixture to fill the pan with a thin layer of pancake mixture. Cook until you can see the consistency has changed and the pancake has firmed enough to turn - you can either use a fish slice utensil or toss the pancake in the pan! Put to one side and cover with foil to keep warm and repeat.

I served these with stewed apple but all sorts of toppings would work. They tasted really good.

Coconut Dacquoise with Chocolate Ganache Filling

I attempted to make my own mayonnaise recently and it was a disaster - I tried once before and both times I haven't been able to get the mixture to thicken. Does anyone have any advice?

Since I'd used egg yolks for this recipe - three, as the recipe said two and it wouldn't thicken so I added another, which helped a little but not enough - I also had three egg whites to use up. I thought about making meringue but didn't want anything that sugary, and I'd just seen something on television where a chef was making a dacquoise - a cake made with layers of almond and hazelnut meringue.

I had some dessicated coconut I'd bought for another recipe and wondered if I could make the same sort of nutty meringue bake. Turns out you can!

I based my recipe on the coconut dacquoise element of this recipe, but changed it slightly to use coconut flour instead of almond meal (I assume by 'meal' you could use ground almonds). I also halved the quantities, and found it made seven.

Coconut flour is produced from dried coconuts; it's gluten-free and a protein-rich alternative to ordinary flour. Coconut flour also has fibre and fat (as coconuts contain fat) which makes it very filling - I bought it for a recipe I was making from a book called I Quit Sugar. I found lots of other interesting facts about coconut flour on the Nourished Kitchen website including a warning that you can't just substitute it for plain flour in baking. It can also go a bit clumpy which I discovered making this recipe, but it worked well otherwise in this mixture - I just might think twice before using it in a cake.

I toasted the coconut in the oven for a few minutes to start, and allowed it to cool.

Then for the dacquoise I whisked the egg whites and added the sugar, then folded in the dessicated coconut, coconut flour and icing sugar.

I piped circles out onto an oven tray -I realised I'd run out of baking paper so had to line it with foil.

Bake for 8-10 minutes then allow to cool.

For the filling I brought some cream to a simmer then added some chocolate and stirred until melted, then put into the fridge until set. I sandwiched the dacquoise together with the chocolate - even though my fiancé doesn't like coconut he did enjoy these!

I'm sharing this with Perfecting Patisserie, hosted by Lucy at BakingQueen74.

Pina Colada Cupcakes

I've written before about Sugar and Crumbs, a company which makes flavoured icing sugars and cocoa powders from natural ingredients. I first came across them at a cake show and I think it's a brilliant idea, especially for those flavours which are hard to replicate. So I was excited when they sent me a packet of pina colada icing sugar to try. It costs £1.99 for 250g or £3.49 for 500g which is plenty for a dozen cupcakes. So not something I would buy every day (you have to pay postage as well) but it's a great idea for something a bit different.

I've made pina colada cupcakes once before but this time I used a different recipe from a fun book called Make Bake Cupcake. I didn't use the frosting recipe from the book though. This is what you need to make 12:

190g plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
115g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp. rum
125ml milk
85g tinned pineapple, crushed
60g of dessicated coconut to decorate
500g Sugar and Crumbs pina colada flavour icing sugar
250g butter, softened
cocktail umbrellas to decorate

Preheat oven to 180C and line a muffin tin with paper cases - I used yellow ones.

Cream the butter with the sugar then beat in the eggs. Mix in the rum and milk and gradually add the flour along with the baking powder and salt. Finally stir in the pineapple.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases and bake for 18-20 minutes until cooked. Allow to cool.

Mix the Sugar and Crumbs pina colada flavour with the softened butter for the buttercream. Using a piping bag and star nozzle pipe swirls on top of the cupcakes. Sprinkle over the dessicated coconut to decorate and top with a mini cocktail umbrella.



I'm sending these to Tea Time Treats, hosted by Jane at the Hedgecombers and Karen at Lavender and Lovage as their theme is barbecues.

And I'm sending these to Treat Petite, hosted by Stuart at Cakeyboi and Kat the Baking Explorer; the theme this month is summertime special.

Thanks to Sugar & Crumbs for sending me the icing sugar to review.

Australian Lamingtons

Formula 1 season is upon us with the first event in Australia this weekend. You may have seen the new blog challenge that I’ve launched, Formula 1 Foods – the idea being to bake or cook something from the country that is hosting each race. As well as celebrating the global popularity of F1 it’s also a good way of getting involved if you’re not an F1 fan but maybe live with people who are!

When I saw that the first destination was Australia I immediately thought of Lamingtons; I’ve never eaten or even seen any other than on blogs and in recipe books before but I know they are an Australian speciality. I recently took a baking class taught by an Australian who even referred to rectangular baking tins as Lamington tins!

There are various stories about the origins of the Lamington, which you can read here.

A Lamington is a pretty simple type of cake – a vanilla sponge cake baked as a single layer and sliced into squares. Each square is then dipped in a chocolate sauce and coated in dessicated coconut. Sometimes they are served sandwiched together with jam and cream which I think makes it more of a dessert.

  

I used a Jamie Oliver recipe which you can find online here:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/features/australia-homemade-lamingtons/

Cutting the cake into squares and ready to dip

Drying on a rack after dipping

They were very easy to make; a little messy with the dipping but I think these would be fun to make with children.

When you cut or bite into them you see how the chocolate sauce has soaked in, making the sponge nice and moist. I'm not keen on dessicated coconut normally but these were really nice!

I am sending this to my new blog challenge Formula 1 Foods as the first country is Australia.

I am also sending this to Treat Petite as the theme is Mother’s Day and mums; these would be good for children to make for Mother’s Day and particularly welcome if your mum is from Australia I think! The challenge is hosted by Stuart at Cakeyboi and Kat aka The Baking Explorer.

As these are child-friendly bakes I am also sending them to Family Foodies.

Pineapple and Coconut Sandcastle Cake

I can never resist new baking equipment and when I saw this sandcastle cake mould from Lakeland, priced at just £7.99, I had to buy it as I knew it would be perfect for summer.

I thought about what flavours I associated with the beach, and decided that fish and chips wouldn't really work in a cake - so summery cocktails were the next best thing. Pineapple and coconut reminds me of cocktails, exotic fruit and even coconut-scented sun tan lotion, so I decided to incorporate these flavours into the cake.

Pineapple and Coconut Sandcastle Cake - an original recipe by Caroline Makes

 You need:

Cake Release spray for greasing the mould

200g butter, softened

200g caster sugar

4 eggs

1 cup pineapple juice

Juice and pineapple from a 227g tin of pineapple rings

275g self raising flour

50g dessicated coconut

for the buttercream

50g butter, softened

100g icing sugar

to decorate:
25g candy melts in any colour (optional)
Cocktail sticks, paper and glue to make flags (optional)
100g golden caster sugar (optional)

I used the Lakeland sandcastle silicone mould for this cake. To decorate, I used the Lakeland seashell silicone icing mould (£6.99) though you could also use Belgian chocolate seashells.

Preheat the oven to 150C. Spray the sandcastle mould with Cake Release or similar.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer then mix in the eggs.

Add the pineapple juice and mix again.

Finely chop the tinned pineapple and add the pineapple and juice from the tin to the cake mixture. Fold in gently.

Fold in the flour and dessicated coconut and make sure all the ingredients are combined.

Stand the sandcastle mould in a large roasting tin and pour the cake mixture into the mould. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

 Allow to cool in the mould and then turn out onto a cooling rack.

Meanwhile prepare the decorations. To decorate, I used the Lakeland seashell silicone icing mould.

Melt some candy melts - you will only need about 25g - in the microwave or according to pack instructions. You can use any colour but I used a mixture of blue and white. With a teaspoon, spoon a small amount of the melted candy melts into the seashell moulds and place in the fridge for an hour to set. You could use chocolate instead of candy melts, or use ready made Belgian chocolate seashells.

 For the buttercream, cream the softened butter and icing sugar in a bowl. Spoon or pipe the buttercream onto the turrets of the sandcastle, reserving a little to stick the icing seashells onto the cake.

Make flags by cutting out a diamond shape from a piece of coloured paper and folding in half around a cocktail stick. Use a little glue to secure.

Place the cake on a cake board and decorate the sandcastle with flags and seashells. Sprinkle golden caster sugar around the cake to ressemble sand. You can really taste the coconut and the pineapple in this cake and it's perfect for summer.

I'm sending this to the Alphabakes challenge, which I am hosting this month, as the letter I have chosen is P.

Brazilian Coconut Chicken

Brazil is playing the Netherlands in the World Cup third place playoffs today. Did you see Brazil's amazing (ly bad) game against Germany? Nonetheless Brazil is the host country so I wanted to make one more of their national dishes in honour of the occasion. This is Brazilian coconut chicken; a sort of South American curry and the recipe comes from All Recipes.

To serve 2, you need:

2 chicken breasts

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp coriander

1 tbsp olive oil

salt, pepper

Fry Light or 1 tbsp oil

half an onion, chopped (which I left out as my boyfriend doesn't like it)

1 green chilli, seeded and chopped (also left out!)

1 tsp minced ginger

200ml coconut milk

the recipe says to use 3 chopped tomatoes for 4 people; I don't like fresh tomatoes and didn't want to open a tin so used 1 tbsp tomato puree which worked really well in this recipe

Mix the cumin, turmeric, coriander, salt, pepper and oil in a small bowl and use to coat the chicken breasts.

Chop the chicken breasts into chunks, heat some oil in a pan and fry the onion, chilli and chicken, until the chicken is cooked through.

Add the ginger, coconut milk and tomatoes or tomato puree, stir gently until well combined and simmer until the sauce has reduced.

Serve with rice and enjoy.

I'm sending this to Chris at Cooking Around The World for his World Cup challenge.

Fried Coconut Prawns

 

These are so easy to make and really delicious. They remind me of a meal I had at Bubba Gump's in America, which involved prawns cooked four different ways. To make these, all you need is plain flour (which you can add some salt and pepper to), 1 egg, beaten, and bowl of dessicated coconut and breadcrumbs mixed together.

Take each prawn one at a time (you really want to use the large prawns for this) and dip in the flour then the beaten egg then the coconut and breadcrumb mixture.

Deep fry a few prawns at a time in a couple of inches of hot oil in a saucepan, for a few seconds only. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Delicious!

Serve with chips, of course - and a sweet chilli/mayonnaise dip wouldn't go amiss either.