Creepy Cookie Cake

Creepy Cookie Cake

With Halloween around the corner, we want you to be prepared with one of the best recipes for the occasion. This recipe is quick, easy and tasty! I made it for Halloween a few years ago and it caught on with my friends and now they ask me to make it for every holiday!This recipe is quick, easy and tasty! I made it for Halloween a few years ago and it caught on with my friends and now they ask me to make it for every holiday!

What you need:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 (8-ounce) container whipped topping (recommended: Cool Whip)

• 1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate sandwich cookies plus 10 whole cookies (recommended: Oreo)

• 1 (9-inch) chocolate pie crust

What to do:

1. Combine softened cream cheese and sugar in mixing bowl.

2. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until creamy.

3. Add sour cream and vanilla, beat until well combined.

4. Stir in cool whip and crushed cookies.

5. Spoon mixture into pie crust using a rubber spatula to spread evenly.

6. Refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours before serving.

7. Through a fine sifter, heavily sprinkle cocoa powder over the cake to make it look like dirt in a graveyard.

8. To make tombstone cookies scrape the cream filling out of chocolate cookies. Cut off ends of cookies so as to make a rectangular shape.

9. Using royal icing in a piping bag, pipe spooky decorations and words on the tombstone cookies. Examples: BOO, RIP.

By Hovig

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

We have reached the month of April and the month of Easter, what better way to celebrate than with the traditional hot cross bun. Chocolate hot cross buns are best served warm for the full mouth watering experience.

Ingredients:

• 600g plain flour

• 2 tsp dry yeast

• 60g brown sugar

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp mixed spice

• 1/4 cup cocoa

• 2 tsp salt

• 2 eggs

• 250ml milk, lukewarm

• 2 tbsp orange marmalade, chopped

• 40g unsalted butter, softened

• ½ cup currants

• ½ cup small chocolate chips or chopped chocolate buttons

• 1 tbsp mixed peel, optional

• Crosses Plain flour

• Water

• Glaze ½ cup caster sugar

• ½ cup water

Method:

1. Mix together the flour, yeast, sugar, cinnamon, mixed spice, cocoa and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, add milk, eggs and marmalade.
3. Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet or, if using a stand mixer with a dough-hook, wet mixture to the dry.
4. When mixed through, knead in the softened butter, then the choc-chips and currants/mixed peel. Knead for 5 more minutes.
5. Spray a large bowl with canola oil, put dough in, and cover with cling film. Allow to prove until it doubles in size (mine took about 1 hour).
6. Re-knead for 3 minutes and then divide into 15 rolls, place them on a greased baking tray about 2cm apart, re-cover with cling wrap and leave to prove a second time until they double in size.
7. Preheat oven to 190°C.
8. Put the crosses on the buns by mixing some flour and water in a zip lock bag until it makes a runny-ish paste. Cut the corner off the zip lock bag and pipe on the crosses.
9. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes until they start to brown on top.
10. Whilst hot, make the glaze by boiling the ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved. Brush on with a pastry brush.
    
    
    
    By Hovig