These delicious ginger cakes are topped with popcorn brains and squirming with icing maggots for a perfectly ghoulish Halloween treat! Find more spooky recipes in HELLO! out now.
Serves: 12 Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 100g/4 oz butter
- 110g/4 oz lightly muscovado sugar
- 60g/2½ oz Lyle's Black Treacle
- 60g/2½ oz Lyle's Golden Syrup
- 175g/6 oz plain flour
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 large egg beaten
- 150ml/¼ pt milk
- 1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
For the topping: 150g/5oz cream cheese, 2tsp icing sugar, 2-3 drops green food colouring, 100g/4 oz sweet popcorn, 40g/1½ oz white fondant icing, 2-3 drops yellow food colouring, Lyle's Strawberry Squeezy Syrup
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 190C, 375F, Gas 5 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cup cake cases.
- Put the butter, sugar, black treacle and golden syrup in a saucepan and heat gently until melted (don't allow it to get too hot). Cool slightly.
- Sift the flour, salt and ginger into a mixing bowl. Add the melted mixture and beaten egg, stirring all the ingredients together.
- Heat the milk until lukewarm, add the bicarbonate of soda, then stir into the mixing bowl. Transfer to a jug and pour into cake cases. Bake for 22-25 minutes, until risen and firm. Cool on a wire rack.
- For the topping, mix the cream cheese and icing sugar with 2-3 drops of green food colouring. Spread onto the cakes and top with the sweet popcorn to resemble brains.
- Colour the fondant icing with 2-3 drops of yellow food colouring, then roll tiny pieces into shapes to look like maggots. Arrange these on the "brains", then drizzle a line of strawberry syrup over the top.