Baking

Kim Joy’s Poison Apple Halloween Cake

This cake is the perfect cursed centrepiece for your Halloween celebrations! All the decorative elements on their own are not difficult, but when you put them together, it looks really striking. We would recommend making your sponges, buttercream and candied apple the day before, so the next day is all about assembly and decoration. We used Kim Joy's vanilla sponge recipe here, but you can make any flavour of sponge you like!

2 hours, plus cooling prep, 35 minutes cook

Serves 20-25

Ingredients

For the candied apple:

1 twig, cleaned

1 red apple

70ml water

350g caster sugar

50g liquid glucose

Red gel food dye

For the red salted caramel:

90ml water

240g caster sugar

225ml double cream

Fine table salt, to taste

Red gel food dye

For the fondant frogs:

100g green fondant

4 edible eyes

For the vanilla cake:

480g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing

480g caster sugar

1 tsp salt

8 medium eggs

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

260ml whole milk

200ml yoghurt

560g plain flour

6 tsp baking powder

60g almond flour

For the buttercream:

550g unsalted butter, at room temperature

Salt, to taste

800g icing sugar

Strawberry Jam (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C/ Fan 150°C/Gas 6. Grease 5 x 18-cm cake tins with butter and line the bases with baking paper.

Add the butter, sugar and salt to a stand mixer, and whisk on medium speed until the butter is smooth, then increase the speed to high and whisk until the butter is fluffy and pale. Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Add the egg mixture, 1 tbsp at a time, to the creamed butter and sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla bean paste and mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, mix the milk and yogurt together. Sift the flour, baking powder and almond flour together into another bowl. Alternate between sifting in the flour and adding milk and yogurt to the main mixture, mixing on slow speed after each addition. Be careful not to overmix.

Divide the batter between the prepared cake tins and bake for 30–35 minutes until a skewer or a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. When the cakes are baked, leave them to cool in their tins for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and turn out onto wire racks. Peel off the baking paper and leave to cool.

Make your buttercream. Place the butter, salt and icing sugar in a stand mixer and whisk on slow speed until the icing sugar is combined (you may want to cover the bowl with a tea towel to prevent the icing sugar from flying everywhere!). Increase the speed to high and whisk until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula when necessary to ensure everything mixes properly. Add milk, 1 tbsp at a time, to achieve a spreadable consistency.

Make the candied apple. Poke the twig into the top of the apple so that it is secure. Add the water, sugar and liquid glucose to a small pan and heat over a high heat until it reaches hard crack, which is 150°C on a sugar thermometer. You can also test if it’s done by dropping a small amount of candy into cold water; it’s ready if it hardens straightaway.

When ready, add red gel food dye until it’s a deep red colour and swirl very gently to combine – it will spread very easily, so don’t stir! Dip the apple in, tipping the pan a little to help cover the whole surface. Allow any excess to drip off, then place on a piece of baking paper and leave for 15 minutes, or until completely set.

Next, make the red salted caramel drip. Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan over a low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Then turn up the heat and wait (don’t stir) until the sugar turns an amber colour. Then, remove the pan from the heat, add the cream in one go and stir constantly with a balloon whisk. The caramel will bubble up so be careful!

Return the pan to a low heat and continue stirring until all the sugar has dissolved and you have a smooth, creamy sauce. Mix in enough red food dye to get a vibrant red. Pour the sauce into a medium bowl and sprinkle with a little salt to taste. Don’t add too much; it’s better to add too little than too much. Leave the caramel to cool in the fridge for about 2 hours, or until thick.

To make the fondant frogs, make a round blob of green fondant for the body, then squish it down slightly. Add another round blob on top for the head, then use a knife to cut halfway through this to create the open mouth. Attach small thin circles on top for the eyes, then press edible eyes on. Shape a long tapered piece of fondant for the legs, then fold it so that the tapered ends meet. Place this on one side of the frog, then repeat for the other side. Add small round thin circles for the feet, pressing to make them stick to the underside of the frog, then use a knife to cut slits to represent webbed feet.

Assemble your cakes, beginning with a cake board that is just slightly larger than your cakes. If using jam, smear a layer of it over each cake, and then cover it with buttercream. Then, cover the top of the cake with a solid layer of room temperature buttercream. You can pipe this buttercream on, or you can just spread it on with an offset spatula.

Smear the top and sides of your cake in buttercream using an offset spatula. To get an even finish on this, warm the cake scraper that you are using by running it under hot water – the heat helps make everything nice and smooth. Spread another layer of buttercream all over the chilled crumb coat using a palette knife and smooth again. Chill in the fridge until firm.

When the cake is firm, place the chilled red caramel into a piping bag and cut a small tip. Pipe controlled drips down the side of the cake, varying the lengths. Use a palette knife to smooth red caramel over the top of the cake, then add the candied apple. Position a frog at the end of a drip, as if the drip is going into its mouth. Add extra caramel to its mouth and dripping around. Position a second frog peeking out from behind the apple.