Hallowe'en Celebrations

This post is joining in the fun at Violet Posy's Hallowe'en Party!






Pumpkin cake (adapted from a recipe in Asda's magazine a few years ago.)

10 oz plain flour
3 tablespoons wheat bran (if desired)
2tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
4oz butter
70z soft brown sugar
2 large eggs
300g pumpkin puree (to make, see below)
7oz mixed dried fruit (we used a mix of chopped apricots, cranberries, raisins and candied peel.
3oz chopped walnuts
one large carrot, grated
2oz pumpkin seeds

for the icing;
(quantities vary)
icing sugar
juice of half an orange
2 tablespoons butter
grated zest of one orange

to make the pumpkin puree;
300g is approximately half a medium-sized carving pumpkin that you can get in tescos
If using the pumpkin for carving too, scoop out the seeds and pulp, then be prepared to spend a good while scraping out the good flesh with a spoon, until there is only about 1/2 a centimeter left to the outside skin. Use about 3/4 of this (you can weigh to check later) and boil until soft. Drain, cool and blend.
If not using the pumpkin to carve, cut in half, reserve one half for another dish (or use all to make puree and freeze half to make more pumpkin cake when it is out of season.) cut the half into wedges (8ths) and roast in a hot oven for around 20mins. They should look like the ones in the picture.Cool, and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Peel off the skin and boil the chopped flesh for 5mins. Drain, cool and blend.



To use the rest of your pumpkin, check out these pumpkin recipes: Slugs on the Refrigerator & Being a Mummy

for the cake;

oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 & grease two baking tins.

get somebody small to help beat the butter & sugar together, then beat in the eggs one at a time. (pick out the shards of shell because you needed "help" to break the eggs.)

sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices and bran together (don't worry that it was more like two tablespoons of cinnamon when toddler got hold of it, I'm sure it will taste fine), and fold into the mixture gradually. Or all at once if you're 22 months old.

add the fruit, seeds, nuts (and eat a few and spill most of them on the worktop and some on the floor for good measure) carrot and puree.

pour into the tins & bake for 40 mins.

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For the icing;

sift the icing sugar, then add half the grated rind & the juice, & the butter & beat.

use to sandwich the halves together with the mixture, then decorate the top with the rest, and the rind, or some walnuts or pumpkin seeds.

As you can see from the pictures, I had some batter left over & made a few cupcakes too. These work well as cupcakes, as you can decorate each one differently.

And here is Boy's hallowe'en costume! I customized a stripy, nautical style top, and made a simple belt for round a pair of cut off jeans, and made a bandanna! I procured the fabric from Natalie at Sophie 4 Sophie, isn't it fab??