Coffee and Walnut Layer cake

Ingredients:-

for the sponge

* 50 grams walnut pieces
* 225 grams caster sugar
* 200 grams plain flour
* 4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
* 4 large egg
* 1-2 tablespoons milk

for the butter-cream frosting
* 350 grams icing sugar
* 175 grams soft unsalted butter
* 1 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder (dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water)
* approx. 10 walnut halves (to decorate)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ gas mark 4/ 350F.

2. Butter two 20cm/ 8 inch sandwich tins and line the base of each with baking parchment.

3. Put the walnut piece and sugar into a food processor and blitz to a fine nutty powder.

4.  Add the 225G/ 2 sticks butter, flour, 4 teaspoons espresso powder, baking powder, bicarb and egg and process to a smooth batter.

5. Add the milk, pouring it down the funnel with the  motor still running, or just pulsing, to loosen the cake mixture, it should be a soft, dropping consistency, so add more milk if you need to. (If you are making this by hand, bash the nuts to a rubby powder with a rolling pin and mix with the dry ingredients: then cream the butter and sugar together, and beat in some dry ingredients and eggs alternatllely and, finally the milk)

6. Divide the mixture between the 2 lined tins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. or until the sponge has risen and feels springy to the touch.

7. Cool the cake in their tins on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, before turning them out onto the rack and peeling off the baking parchment.

8. When the sponge are cool, you can make the buttercream.

9. Pulse the icing sugar in the food processor until it is lump free, then add the butter and process to make a smooth icing.

10. Dissolve the instant espresso powder in 1 tablespoon boiling water and add it while still hot to the processor, pulsing to blend into the buttercream.

11. If you are doing this by hand, sieve the icing sugar and beat it into the butter with a wooden spoon.

12. Then beat in the hot coffee liquid.

13. Place 1 sponge upside down on your cake stand or serving plate.

14. Spread with about half the icing: then place on it the second sponge, right side up ( so the 2 flat sides of the sponge meet in the middle) and cover the top with the remaining icing in a ramshackle swirly pattern.

15. This cake is all about old-fashioned, rustic charm, so don't worry unduly: however the frosting goes on is fine. Similarly, don't fret some buttercream oozing out around the middle. thats what makes it...

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Ghoul-Graveyard Cake

Ingredients:-

for the cake

* 250 ml milk
* 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
* 225 grams plain flour
* 50 grams cocoa powder
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
* 200 grams caster sugar
* 110 grams butter (or soft margarine)
* large egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the icing

* 300 grams icing sugar
* 60 grams butter
* 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
* 2 teaspoons golden syrup
* 60 ml milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon black food colouring paste
* black sugar sprinkles
* hallowe's themed jelly lollies (at least 1 per child)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3/170C/325F. Grease and line a 23cm springform tin.Mix the milk and vinegar together and set aside.

2. Make sure all your remaining ingredients are at room temperature if you can, but since no one's going to be overly worried about the cake, you shouldn't be either. If the ingredients are cold, the worst that can happen is that the cake will be heavy. But you do need soft butter (or the cake won't mix) so substitute marge if that's not a goer. Put everything for the cake, except the vinegary milk, into a food processor and blitz to mix. Remove the lid, scrape down with a rubber spatula and then put the lid back on and with the motor running, add the vinegary milk.

3. Scrape, spoon or pour the brown batter into the and spread to fill it evenly, baking it for 40-45 minutes until it is well risen and springy to the touch.

4. Remove the cooked cake, in its tin, to a rack and leave to cool for about ten minutes, then spring open the tin and let the cake get completely cold.

5. To make the icing, first sieve the icing sugar. Boring, but it's got to be done. Melt the butter in a saucepan and when it's bubbling add the cocoa. Let it dissolve into the butter, stirring with a little hand whisk, then add the syrup, milk, vanilla and colour paste. Stir or whisk well and let it bubble for a few minutes and  then take the pan off the heat and whisk in the icing sugar.

6. Put the pan back on the heat and whisk again to help the sugar dissolve and the colouring disperse, then take it off the heat to let it thicken to the right consistency-thick enough to coat, but thin enough to trickle down to cover the sides too- as it cools slightly (but only slightly: it thickens fast) put the cake on torn-off pieces of baking parchment to form an outline of a square to catch the excess icing. Place the cake just on top of the  torn pieces of parchment so you can pull them away once the icing has stopped dripping. Hold the pan of icing over the centre of the cake and pour over it so that the top is covered and the icing has dripped over and down the side.

7. Working quickly, throw over the black sugar sprinkles to cover the top and sides of the cake before the icing dries.

8. Trim the lolly sticks, so that you have a stem of about 3-4cm to stick into the cake, and then plunge the sticks of the foreshortened lollies into the cake so that the ghoulish faces leer out from their black frosted graveyard.

9. To be honest, this cakes serves as many childern as you can stick lollies in for, if that makes sense. You could certainly find room for 12.

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Cherry Cheese cake

Ingredients:-

* 125 grams crumbled digestive biscuits
* 75 grams soft butter
* 300 grams cream cheese
* 60 grams icing sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
* 250 ml double cream
* 1x284 grams jar black cherry spread

Method

1. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until beginning to turn to crumbs, then add the butter and whiz again to make the mixture clump.

2. Press the mixture into a 20cm/ 8 inch spring-form tin, press a little up the sides to form a slight ridge.

3. Beat together the cream, icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth.

4. Lightly whip the double cream, and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.

5. Spoon the cheesecake filling on top of the biscuit base and smooth with a spatula. put it in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight.

6. When your are ready to serve the cheesecake, unmould it and spread the black cherry over the top.

7. Additional information - for vegetarains make sure the cream cheese is a brand suitable for vegetarians.

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Ginger Passionfruit trifle

Ingredients:-

* 400- 500 grams shop-bought sponge cake
* 125 ml stone's green ginger wine
* 500 ml double cream
* 4 teaspoon icing sugar
* 8 passionfruit

Method

1. Slice or break the sponge into pieces and arrange half of them in a shallow dish or cake stand with slight lip or upward curve at edge, then pour half the ginger wine over them.

2. Mound up the remaining half of sponge and pour the remaining ginger wine on top.

3. Whip the cream with the icing sugar until it is firm but not stiff, you want soft peaks.

4. Scoop the insides of 2 passionfruit into into the bowl of cream and fold in before mounding the cream floppily over the soused sponge.

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Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients

* 175 ml full fat milk
* 200 grams caster sugar
* 125 grams cream cheese
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 large egg
* Juice of 1/2 lemon
* 350 ml double cream
* 50 grams crumbled digestive biscuits (optional)

Method

1. Heat the milk in a pan, and while it's getting warm, beat together the sugar, philadelphia, vanilla and egg in a bowl. Still whisking pour the hot milk into the cream cheese mixture and pour this back into the cleaned-out pan and cook till a velvety custard. I don't bother with a double boiler, and actually don't even keep the heat very low, but you will need to stir it constantly, and if you think there's any trouble ahead, plunge the pan into a sink half filled with cold water and whisk like mad. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes, this way, for the custard to cook. And when it has thickened, take it off the heat, pour into a bowl and let if cool, at which time add the lemon juice and then the double cream, lightly whipped.

2. Freeze in ice cream maker or place into a covered container, stick it in the freezer and whip it out every hour for 3 hours as it freezes and give it a good beating, folding in the crushed digestives-if using before the ice cream is set solid.

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