?️Two Spooky Halloween Recipes?️
-Brain Cake-
INGREDIENTS:
Bake a small 6″ Red Velvet cake out of any cake mix in a round cake pan.
Allow to cool completely.
Then you will need:
25oz marzipan
Wilton gel food color in: Ivory, Copper & Pink
A batch of mixed berry coulis or some red berry jam.
A clean paint brush
METHOD:
Cut the cake into 2 even parts, and carve gently to form the shape of the two cerebral hemispheres (left and right sides of the brain). I just worked from a picture of a brain on Google images.
Knead just the smallest dab of each of the colourings into the marzipan until its evenly coloured (I find this combination makes the best brain color, but it would look pretty convincing still if you just used the pink).
Roll out half of the marzipan until it forms an oval 4mm thick. Cut this into even 2 pieces and wrap your brain hemispheres until they’re completely coated.
Now roll the remaining marzipan into rounded strips of differing lengths but with around a 8mm diameter.
Attach these to the brain using just a brush of the coulis (this will be enough to secure them in place).
Form the strips into ‘lobes’ – again, use a real brain as your guide or the image below.
Brush a little coulis between the gaps as you wish. The bloodier the better (and tastier).
-Bleeding Heart Cake-
INGREDIENTS:
1 cooled batch of Red Velvet cupcakes
75g red fondant icing per cupcake
Small amount of Vanilla Buttercream
A tub of clear piping gel (clear gel used for decorating cakes, which gives a glossy finish)
Red food coloring (optional black, too) (important: use a gel coloring, not a liquid)
1 batch of Mixed Berry Coulis
METHOD:
First, make your coulis. Place all the ingredients in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed pan and bring to the boil over a gentle heat, stirring continuously. Reduce to a simmer and heat for 15 minutes, or until thickened. Allow to cool.
For each bleeding heart, take 75g of fondant icing and roll it into an oval shape about 0.5cm thick, roughly 20 x 10cm (a small silicone rolling pin and mat will help to stop it sticking, otherwise use icing sugar). Place one of the cupcakes in the centre of the oval and pipe a little bit of buttercream or frosting to stick it in place. Wrap the fondant around the cake from both the edges, folding inwards to the front of the cake, then fold in the bottom, cutting away any excess and use the extra fondant at the top to form the arteries. Don’t worry about any creases or gathering in the fondant – they make for useful gory details later on.
In a small bowl, mix a spoonful of the clear piping gel with some drops of red (and black if you like) food coloring. Now paint the fondant heart all over using a soft brush – it will stay really glossy.
When you are ready to serve, use a pipette or spoon to add coulis ‘blood’ to the arteries and in a puddle around the base and prepare to eat your heart out.
