Halloween Monster Brookies

28-10-2016 Local Black Bookbaking, brookie, brookies, brownie, brownies, cake, chocolate, cookie, cookies, halloween, recipe2 Comments

Sure you can buy them in the stores, but there’s something special and fun about making your own Halloween treats.

As far as I’m concerned the spookiest day of the year is as good an excuse as any to bake a batch of favourite sweet treats… And everybody knows that brownies are the way to my heart.

Now, I’m a big fan of the traditional recipe, but trust me when I say Brookies, the genius crossing between brownies and cookies, are next level good.

Chewy, crumbly, super chocolate-y and just a tiny bit spooky, these Monster Brookies are the ultimate Halloween-win treat, and you definitely want a batch (or three) of those in your life ASAP!

Halloween Monster Brookies (makes 6 monster-sized cookies)

Ingredients:

120g 70% dark chocolate
15g butter
75g caster sugar
30g cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
15g chocolate chips
30g Smarties
a few drops dark food coloring (or, even better, a food-safe black pencil)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted and combined, then remove from the heat.

3. In the meantime, combine the sugar, cornflour, baking powder and egg and whisk until light and fluffy. Add the chocolate-butter mixture and mix until well combined.

4. Spoon tablespoons of mixture onto baking trays lined with baking paper, making sure you leave enough space inbetween them (they spread A LOT while baking). Dot the top of the cookies with the chocolate chips and Smarties.

5. Bake for 12-13 min in the preheated oven, then set aside to cool before drawing eyes using the black food colouring.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers (+vegan version!)

26-10-2016 Local Black BookAutumn, bell pepper, halloween, healthy, healthy eating, healthy living, pepper, peppers, pesto, recipe, sweet pepper, vegan, vegetarianLeave a comment

Finding fun & easy Halloween-themed dishes that are not laced with sugar can be quite the challenge.

Everything I’ve come across sofar has been of the ‘candy-upcycling’ variety (guilty as charged), but in the wholesome, real-food department, there isn’t so much to stick your fangs in…

I’m not sure why that is though, as a few tricks are enough to transform beautiful, healthy everyday dinner dishes into fantastic Halloween centre-pieces.

Proof if you ever needed one with these pesto-studded, couscous- & veggie-filled vegetarian stuffed peppers.

Very quick & super easy to prep, healthy and satisfying all at once, they’re all treat & no tricks!

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers (vegan version included) (served 4)

Ingredients:

4 orange peppers
100g Israeli couscous
1 yellow pepper, finely chopped
1 chilli pepper, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 big carrot, finely chopped
2 tbsp pesto (I used this one from Borough Olives)
1 ball of mozzarella, shredded (skip for a vegan version)
1 tsp red chilli flakes
1 tsp sumac
1 tsp oregano
olive oil, salt, pepper

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

2. Cut the tops of the orange peppers and remove the core & seeds. Using a sharp knife, carefully carve eyes and a mouth in each of them, season the inside of each pepper with salt & pepper, then set aside.

3. Cook the couscous in boiling salted water according to packaging instruction, then drain and set aside to cool.

4. Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan, then add the chopped yellow pepper, onion, chilli pepper and carrot and cook until soft and golden.

5. In a big bowl, mix together the cooked couscous, vegetables, pesto, mozzarella and spices. Season to taste and mix thoroughly.

6. Stuff the peppers with the couscous mixture, place the tops back on and place the peppers in an oven-proof dish.

7. Bake for 40 min. Serve immediately (they’re especially great with a nice green salad on the side).

PS: You can also make the whole thing in advance, in which case you’ll want to slightly reduce the cooking time to 35 minutes, and stick the dish into a hot oven (180°C or so) for 10-15 min to re-heat.

Halloween Cocktail – Bloody Ghoul’s Goblet

24-10-2016 Local Black Bookcocktail, cocktails, drinks, ghoul's goblet, gin, ginger ale, halloween, halloween cocktail, halloween cocktails, recipe, tanqueray1 Comment

Bonfires burning & bright pumpkin faces in the night…

Witches, ghosts, vampires & zombies gathering in the shadows…

It’s definitely time to get ready for the most frightful night of the year!

Line up the candy apples, befriend a few spiders, get working on the pumpkin carving & dust the old potion book…

… For there’s no Halloween party without a spooky (witches’) brew of a Halloween cocktail!

Bloody Ghoul's Goblet Halloween Cocktail | Cake + Whisky

My elixir of choice? How about a Bloody Ghoul’s Goblet*?!

The perfect mix of sweet & sour, this spooky serve, inspired by thebar.com Smirnoff Ghoul’s Goblet, is sure to cast a spell on your guests!

Just don’t be alarmed when you see some creepy creatures at the bottom of your glass, for if you don’t garnish drinks with worms & tarantula brains on Halloween, then when?

Bloody Ghoul's Goblet Halloween Cocktail | Cake + Whisky

Bloody Ghoul’s Goblet (serves 1)

Ingredients:

35ml Tanqueray gin
150ml ginger ale
2 slices blood orange + juice of 1/4
a few drops red food colouring
Gummy worm sweets, mini plastic spiders, pomegranate seeds & small blackberries

1. Fill an ice tray with gummy worms sweets, plastic spiders & small blackberries (a few to each square) and add water. Add a few drops of food colouring, then freeze.

2. Add 2–3 gummy worm sweet ice cubes to a tumbler glass.

3. Pour Tanqueray gin into the tumbler, add the blood orange juice and top with ginger ale.

4. Garnish with blood orange slices and pomegranate seeds & serve immediately.

PIN FOR LATER:

* This post was sponsored by thebar.com and the featured recipe was inspired by their Smirnoff Ghoul’s Goblet but all text, pictures and Halloween cocktail excitement my own.

Halloween Inspiration

23-10-2016 Local Black Bookblack cats, ghost, halloween, inspiration, magic, party, witchLeave a comment

This is Halloween! This is Halloween!

Piles of pumpkins, flying crisp white sheets, black cats and spiders aplenty, there’s no doubt about it: the scariest night of the year is upon us!

As a kid, Halloween was one of my favourite holidays.

The candy, the candles, the spookiness, I loved it all… and to some extend, I still do & there’s hardly anything making me more excited than a good Hallow’s Eve-inspired moodboard!

After all, ‘black is such a happy colour‘!

Image sources: 1. Unknown – 2. via Myopia – 3. via The Davy Graves Aesthetic – 4. The Jewels of New York – 5. Unknown – 6. Dividing ME

Image source: As Above So Below

Image sources: 1. Unknown – 2. via Camille Styles – 3. – 4. The Rover Boutique – 5. via Fortune Tellers & Dreamcatchers – 6. via DARK

Do you guys have any exciting plans this Halloween? Mine include eating too much candy (any excuse I get, I use!), watching spooky movies and maybe befriending a black cat (or twelve)!

This was Halloween | Abney Park Cemetery

01-11-2015 Local Black BookAbney Park, angel, Autumn, cemetery, Fall, halloween, London, nature, park, Stoke Newington3 Comments

There’s hardly anywhere more fitting to celebrate the Day of the Deads than their very own playground.

Some think cemeteries are hallowed, other belive them to be haunted. But one thing is sure: they are absolutely beautiful this time of the year.

Abney Park in Stoke Newington, is one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ garden cemeteries of London.

Laid out in the early 18th centuries, it’s now partially abandoned but still truly majestic.

Rows of humble moss-covered tomstones quickly leave ground to more impressive constructions.

Drapped fabric and angelic faces…

… Columns topped with amphoras.

Angels protecting the loved ones.

And some truly magnificent edifices.

A little abandoned chapel hides amongst the ivy-covered stones.

Ivy is slowly taking possession of the old building.

Stained glass windows have been gone for a while, leaving nothing behind but delicate lace-like metal frames.

Only the vibrant colours of Autumn rival the chapel’s beauty.

Going deeper into smaller alleys, the leaves and the light turn to the most vibrant shades of green.

Elegant angels guard the premises.

At the corner of a path, a fallen statue seems to be sleeping amongst the leaves and remind passers-by of Shakespeare’s Ophelia.

Engraved ivy meets its chlorophyll cousin.

Here and there, the light hits the faces of cherub-like statues, making for the most striking of views.

And when you think you’ve seen everything Abney Park Cemetery has to offer, new details always seem to appear.

The spirit of Halloween seemed to have spread to Stoke Newington‘s streets.

In every window, beheaded skulls and potion bottles look like they stepped straight out of a storybook.

Owls invaded the walls and spiders the flower bouquets.

Steve Almond was right when he said that “Nothing on Earth [was] so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night.”

Especially when it includes some of those deliciously spooky cupcakes!

Halloween is coming to town

26-10-2015 Local Black Bookblack & white, ghost, hallow's eve, halloween, inspiration, inspiration board, mood board, pumpkin, spooky, witch2 Comments

The spookiest night of the year is only a few days away! How exciting!

I’m not usually one for skulls, witches and ghosts, but Halloween‘s almost there and it was about time I (and this blog) got in the mood (board) for it!

Do you guys have any exciting plans this Halloween? (mine definitely include eating too much candy, watching spooky movies and reliving my Hallow’s Eve childhood memories!)

Cake and Whisky

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