Maltesers Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 200g soft brown sugar
• 60g cocoa powder
• 150g plain flour
• 180g ground almonds
• 50g butter, melted in microwave until liquid
• 284ml buttermilk
• 2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Frosting ingredients:

• 100g mascarpone
• 100g icing sugar
• 30g cocoa powder

For the top and middle:

• 175g pouch Maltesers

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/ fan 160C.

Line the base of 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with baking paper, lightly grease the base and sides with a little vegetable oil.

Whisk the eggs and sugar until they turn pale and treble in size

Add the flour, cocoa powder, almonds, baking powder, salt, buttermilk and melted butter to the bowl and mix to combine.

Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins and place into the middle of a hot oven for 30 minutes.

Once cooked, leave to cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes until cold.You could speed up the process by placing the rack in the fridge if you wanted to. The cake must be cold before you ice it or it will simply run off it.

While the cake is cooling, make the icing: place the mascarpone and icing sugar in a bowl and mix together with the help of a rubber spatula. When they are totally blended together and there are no lumps, add the cocoa powder and mix again. Refrigerate until needed.

To assemble the cake, spread a thin layer of icing on the underside of both cakes. Scatter half of the Maltesers on the base layer, then sandwich with the top half. Finally, place the Maltesers all over the top of the cake before serving.

Caribbean Coconut Cake

Ingredients:

• 280g butter, softened
• 175g castor sugar
• 3 eggs
• 175g self raising flour
• 11/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 freshly grated nutmeg
• 55g dessicated coconut
• 5 tbsp coconut milk
• 280g icing sugar
• 5 tbsp pineapple jam

To decorate:

• toasted shredded coconut

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C or fan 160C. Grease and line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins.

Place 175g of butter in a bowl with the sugar and eggs and sift in the flour, baking powder and nutmeg. Beat together until smooth, then stir in the coconut  and 2 tablespoons of the coconut cream.

Divide the mixture between the prepared tins and smooth the tops. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, pel off the lining paper and leave to cool completely.

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the remaining butter and coconut cream. Beat together until smooth. Spread the pineapple jam on one of the cakes and top with just under half of the buttercream. Place the other cake on top. Spread the remaining buttercream on top of the cake and scatter with toasted shredded coconut.

Christmas Pud Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 140g butter
• 50g dark chocolate, in chunks
• 100ml soured cream
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 140g self raising flour
• 140g castor sugar
• 100g ground almonds
• 6 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 85g dried soured cherries plus a few extra to decorate

To decorate:

• 250g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tbsp custard powder, sifted
• 12 small bay leaves

Method:

Heat oven to 190C or fan 170C. Place 12 silicone muffin tray on a baking sheet.

Melt the chocolate and butter over a low heat. Cool a little, then stir in the soured cream and eggs. Mix in the flour, sugar, almonds, cocoa and baking powder in a bowl. Pour in the chocolate and stir until smooth, then stir in the cherries.

Spoon into the muffin holes so that they are 3/4 full, then bake for 20 minutes. Cool in the silicon moulds.

To decorate, mix the icing sugar and custard powder with 3 tablespoon water to make a thick icing. Remove the muffins from the mould and cool on a rack. Cut off any rounded tops, stand upside-down on the rack, then spoon the icing over. Leave to set, then top with bay leaves and cherries.

Snowman Cupcake

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 100g self raising flour
• 100g golden castor sugar
• 100g softened butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• icing sugar for dusting
• 150g ready to roll white icing
• 3 tbsp apricot jam
• mashmallows
• red fizzy lances for the scarves
• tubes of coloured writing icing
• chocolate chips for snowman nose
• edible silver baubles

Methods:

Preheat oven at 180c or 160c for fan assist oven.

Place softened butter, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and vanilla essence into a mixing bowl. Beat for a few minutes with electric mixer  until the mixture is light in colour and fluffy.

Line the muffin tin with 12 silver muffin cases and divide the mixture between them, filling up the cases to about two-thirds of the way up.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the fairy cakes have risen and are lightly golden. Lift the cakes (still in the paper cases) out of the tins and leave them to cool on a wire rack.

Dust a clean work surface with icing sugar and roll out the icing sugar to about 5mm thick. Cut out 12 circles using a small pastry cutter that is the same size of the top of your cakes.

Put the apricot jam into a small dish and stir in one tablespoon  of hot water. Brush this  over the surface of the cakes and stick the circles of icing on top.

To decorate the cakes, use marshmallows for the snowmen's head, black writing icing for the eyes, red writing icing for the smiles and chocolate chips for the noses.Stick the heads on the cakes using a little apricot jam, then stick on the edible silber baubles for buttons.

Wrap fizzy lances around the snowmen's neck for scarves