Tag Archives: Pumpkin

Double,double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and couldron bubble.

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,

 Witch’s mummy, maw and gulf

Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg’d in the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat; and slips of yew

If you read part one of Halloween treats you will have found my recipes for Lemon Puffs and Beef Goulash.  Today’s blog post features sweet treats and a super way to use up any leftover pumpkin.

My Chocolate fudge cupcakes never seem to last long in my house, the cake is light and fluffy and the topping is dark, dense and indulgent.  I usually get around 24 cupcakes or 12 muffin sized cakes from the following recipe.

200g unsalted butter (100g for the topping)

2 large eggs

250ml buttermilk

250g caster sugar

280g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

350g dark chocolate, melted (250g for the topping)

2 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°c and line your cupcake or muffin trays, I used pirate cases on this occasion for a halloween look.

Combine  softened butter, eggs, sugar and 100g of the melted chocolate in a large bowl or if you’re lazy like me pop it into the food mixer.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder into the mixture.

Slowly Pour the buttermilk into the mixture and beat for 1-2 minutes.

I find that using an ice-cream scoop makes life so much easier when spooning the batter into the trays. Bake for 16-18 minutes.

To make the topping:

Put the butter and the chopped chocolate into a bowl over a pan of water and melt slowly until combined and glossy.

Spoon the topping onto the cupcakes and decorate

175g melted butter

140g clear honey

1 large egg 

250g raw peeled pumpkin

Handful of toasted almonds

100g light muscovado sugar

350g self-raising flour

1tbsp ground ginger

2 tbsp demerara sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter the base and two long sides of a 1.5kg loaf tin .

Mix the butter, honey and egg and stir in the pumpkin. Mix in the sugar, flour, almonds and ginger.

Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle the top with the demerara sugar. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack. Serve sliced and buttered. A perfect way to use up the pumpkin after carving.