Quick and simple spooky delights. 

Finished cupcakes.

Ingredients you will need: 

- 6oz / 170g self-raising flour

- 6oz / 170g caster sugar

- 6oz / 170g butter or Margarine 

- 3 large eggs

- 1 tsp baking powder 

- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract 

Method:

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 180ºC/ 350ºF and line a cupcake tin with festive, halloween paper cases.

Step 2: Put the sugar and butter into a bowl and mix together until light and fluffy.

Step 3: Add the flour, baking powder, eggs and vanilla paste and mix into the creamed butter and sugar.

Step 4: After the mixture is light and smooth, divide the cake batter into the cupcake cases. An ice-cream scoop is a good tool to do this. When the cases had about the same amount of batter in each, place the tin into the middle of the oven.

Step 5: Bake for around 20 minutes or until golden brown. To test whether the cakes are baked use a kebab skewer, or something similar, and poke one of the cakes. If your skewer comes out clean then the cake is cooked, but if your skewer comes out with cake residue on it it will need a little longer.


Step 6: When your cakes are ready put them on a heatproof surface and leave to cool for around 5 minutes. Then transfer the slightly cool cakes onto a cooling rack and leave until completely cold.

Step 7: Time to decorate! Coloured or flavoured butter cream and festive decorations can make the cupcakes particularly Halloweeny! I chose 'eerie eyes' and pumpkin and cat sprinkles on top of green and orange butter cream, which I made by whisking together butter, icing sugar, vanilla extract and a drop of food colouring.

Here is a simple but delicious recipe that is perfect for a cold, rainy evening. 

The finished stew.

The ingredients you will need are:

-1kg of good quality beef brisket, cubed. 

- 2 large red onions, diced.

- 4 carrots, chopped.

- 2 sticks of celery, chopped.

- 3 garlic cloves, diced.

- 440ml Guinness

- 2 heaped tablespoons of plain flour

- ground pepper

- sea salt

- olive oil

- a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped. 

You could also add:

- 4 field mushrooms, chopped.

- 75g grated cheddar cheese

Method:

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas 5. Dice the onions and garlic and chop the carrots and celery, then cut the beef into about 2cm cubes.


Step 2: Then in a large ovenproof, heat a glug of olive oil on a low heat. Add the onions and fry gently to soften for about 10 minutes but try not to colour the onions too much.

Step 3: Turn up the heat and add the garlic, carrots and celery (if you wanted to add mushrooms you should add them now). Mix everything together and then add the beef, rosemary, a pinch of sea salt and around a teaspoon of ground pepper.

Step 4: Fast fry this for about 3 to 4 minutes, then pour in the Guinness, stir in the flour and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer, then cover with the lid and place in the preheated oven for around 1 hour 30 minutes.

















Step 5: Remove the pan from the oven, give it a stir and put it back into the oven and continue to cook it for another hour, or until the meat is tender and the stew is rich, dark and thick. If the filling is still liquidy, put the pan on the hob and reduce the stew. (If you wanted to add cheese remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheese here).


The stew is now complete and yummy. You can then turn the stew into a tasty pie if you wish, by adding a puff pastry lid or even a suet crust; you could also add suet dumplings or just leave the stew as it is and finish with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. 

Original recipe by Jamie Oliver
(www.jamieoliver.com)