find it hard to get hold of tinned pumpkin puree, so you have two options; make regular vanilla cupcakes and make sure you add the cinnamon for the autumnal flavour, or make your own pumpkin puree. You don’t actually need to buy pumpkin, any squash will do – even butternut squash. Just roast it off in a hot oven, skin on for 40 minutes or so, then scrape away the flesh and blend in a processor.
Makes 12
For the cupcakes:
120g plain flour
140g caster sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
40g unsalted butter at room temp
120ml whole milk
2 eggs
200g tinned pumpkin puree
For the cream cheese frosting:
300g icing sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
50g unsalted butter at room temp
125g cream cheese
Heat the oven to 170c/325f/Gas Mark 3.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and butter and beat together with an electric mixer until you get a something that resembles sand. Add the milk slowly until combined. Crack in the eggs and mix well. Stir in the pumpkin puree.
Pour into cases so they are about two thirds full and bake for 20 mins. They should be light and golden and spring back when touched. Leave to cool for a bit and then turn out onto a cooling rack.
For the frosting, sift the icing sugar and spices into a bowl, add the butter and mix together until you get a sandyish texture. Add the cream cheese and keep mixing for about 5 minutes until it turns light and fluffy. It will take a while!
The decoration part is easier than it looks. I stole the cobweb idea from one of the baristas at a local coffee shop, where they serve vanilla mint tea lattes (yum), with a dark chocolate cobweb on top. You just need some decorating gel and a steady hand. I used Wilton’s in black, then start in the middle, and draw a circle spiral, a bit like a snail. Then using a tooth pick, start at the centre and quickly and gently draw the toothpick out to the edge. You’ll probably need to do about 6 lines at even gaps to create the effect. The spiders are easy. Small blob for the head, larger blob for the body and then use a toothpick again and flick it out from the main body to create four legs either side.
Bonfire Night must mean bangers, and this is an easy and filling dish that will feed a crowd. Perfect for serving in warm bowls whist you watch the fireworks in your back garden. Happy Guy Fawkes Night!
1 large onion thinly sliced into half moons
2 peppers either red, yellow or orange, but not green, thinly sliced into strips
olive oil
2 garlic cloves thinly sliced
6-8 sausages
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsps smoked paprika
500ml beef stock
Worcestershire sauce
1 x can of haricot (navy) beans
200g pasta shapes such as penne or fusilli
salt & pepper
Start by cutting the sausages into bite size pieces and browning them off in a pan. Add a little oil if you need to. Remove from the pan and set aside once they are browned – they don’t have to be cooked all the way through, as they will cook in the stew.
Add some olive oil to the same pan, and add the sliced onion and peppers. Fry off on a low heat until they are silky soft, but not browned. Should take about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring it so it doesn’t burn. Add the sausages back to the pan, scatter over the flour and paprika and cook for 1-2 minutes. Turn the heat up, add the tomato puree, stock, beans and a good dash of Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and leave to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the mixture thickens. Meanwhile cook your pasta in boiling water, strain and then stir into the stew when you are ready to eat. Serve with garlic bread and some grated cheese.
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