Dem’ Bones Halloween Coffin Cake!!

Hallow Eve is practically upon us where ghosts and spooky things that go bump in the night are thought to appear on this said night of the 31st October. This year I decided to make a skeleton coffin cake in celebration of Halloween, which, I made last weekend for my family gathering and we had a fang-tastic time celebrating early! Although this year’s cake was a smaller affair, serving 4-6, it is such an easy coffin cake to make from start to finish. The sponge is baked in a 900g (2lb) loaf tin and cut into coffin shape when cold. Buttercream could be used to smother the outside of the sponge before placing on the fondant icing instead of apricot jam.

Dem’ Bones Halloween Coffin Cake

Dem’ Bones Halloween Coffin Cake

Dem’ Bones Halloween Coffin Cake.

Ingredients
175g (6oz) self-raising flour
175g (6oz) butter, at room temperature
175g (6oz) caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp apricot jam, warmed and sieved
500g (1lb 2oz) fondant icing
Edible food colour, black
Bone shaped sweets
Halloween toys, small plastic skeleton, spiders, small figures
You will need a 900g (2lb) loaf tin, greased and lined with non-stick paper
A 20cm (8 in) cake board or larger if you want to place lots of figures around the board.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/ Gas mark 4.

In a large mixing bowl place the butter and sugar and beat until fluffy and light. Add a little of the beaten egg at a time, beating in with each addition until full combined. Beat in the vanilla extract and then gently fold in the flour until combined. Place into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top over with a spatula.

Place into the preheated oven and bake for 35-45 minutes until golden in colour and firm to the touch in the centre, or a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cake in the in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack, removing the lining paper and leave to cool completely.

To shape the cake, use a large segregated knife to slice off the risen surface to make it completely flat. Turn the cake upside down and score the shape of a coffin in the sponge. Cut off the two top corners at an angle, and then cut diagonally down from the corners to the base of the coffin.

To make the lid, slice about 1cm (½ in) off the top of the cake. Leave aside. With the base of the cake, scoop out with a sharp knife a hollow leaving about 1cm (½ in) border all the way around large. Brush the cake with apricot jam.

Colour the fondant icing with a little edible black food colouring, knead the fondant a little to give a marble effect. Roll out enough marbled fondant to cover the coffin lid all the way around and then the base of the coffin. Line the cake board with the remaining fondant icing dabbing a little water on the board for the fondant to stick to it. *Leave a little white fondant for the name plaque and with a little black food colouring write on R.I.P. and stick down onto the coffin lid with a little water*.

*Note* you can strengthen the coffin lid sponge before fondant icing with a little card cut to size if you so wish*.

Place the base of the coffin on the board. Then put the skeleton in the coffin and place the lid propped up at the side as in the photo.


Place a few bone sweets around and figures to your liking.

Lincoln Cathedral Towers @ Night

Greestone Arch

Greestone Steps (Stairs)

Ghost Walk!!!!!

Some of the family members after teatime went on a ghost walk in Lincoln City to Greestone Steps (Stairs). These steep steps lead down from the side of Lincoln Cathedral which is reputed to be one of the most haunted places in Lincoln. It has airiness about it and dimly lit with old fashioned type Victorian lights. There have been reported sightings of several ghosts and the sound of a head rolling down the steps; unexplained sounds near the archway and clanging from stair rails. Did my family see anything I hear you ask? Nothing was captured on camera or seen, although an airy sound coming from near the archway was heard – spooky!