I feel very blessed... that I can indulge in my hobby for now. Though I'm not sure how long this can last, or where the journey will lead me to, this is a special time in my life.

With the time to explore and innovate, I managed to come up with this.

I know it doesn't look fantastic... but it's still my creation, and I'm proud of it  :)

Actually, I didn't plan to make this cake at all. M called 2 days before the Halloween Party, and said he wants to buy a cake to celebrate another friend's birthday. My husband immediately asked if I could make one. Of course I can! I wouldn't want to miss this chance to brush up on my baking and decorating skills.

But I got really nervous after that. I'm not very good at making those layered cream cakes, and after spending time to conceptualize this cake, my husband broke a bad news to me - that the birthday man prefers a strawberry cake. I almost couldn't take the last min changes... The party is only next day!

That however did pushes me to improve on my original design. Instead of a plain pumpkin cheesecake, I did a spider-web design, and a chocolate spider.

pumkin cheesecake - phew no cracks :)

the complete design

luckily, the birthday man likes it!

Pumpkin Cheesecake (taken from Okashi, sweet treats made with love by Keiko Ishida) - fits a 7 inch cake pan

Ingredients
30g walnuts
70g wheat crackers
40g unsalted butter
250g japanese pumpkin (skinned and seeded)
90g brown sugar
220g cream cheese
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
50g whipping cream (35% fat)
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Method

• Without pre-heating oven, toast walnuts at 150 degree celsius for 20mins. Chop walnuts into small pieces. Set aside.

• Increase oven heat to 170 degree celsius. Prepare a cake pan with removable base. Grease lightly with softened butter.

• Using a food processor, pulse the wheat crackers and toasted walnuts into fine crumbs. *For me, I put the biscuits into a ziploc bag, and crush into fine crumbs using a rolling pin. Add melted butter and mix well. Press down the mixture into the cake pan, and spread evenly. Place in a refrigerator to set.

• Microwave the pumpkin for 5 mins at 600w. *I prepared the pumpkin by steaming it till soft, and mashed it up. 

• Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese till soft. Add in the pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and whipping cream and blend well. Beat eggs and egg yolk, and add to blended mixture. Mix lightly. Do not over-mix.

• Pour pumpkin mixture over set cracker base, and bake for 40-50mins till surface is light brown, and centre of cheesecake feels springy to the touch. 

• Gently run a knife along the edge of cheesecake and leave to cool on a wire rack. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight.
  

Spider Web
The web is piped out using melted chocolate. I did a draft first, giving me the confidence to pipe onto the cake :)


Chocolate Spider
Place some dark chocolates in a bowl, and melt over a pot of boiling water. Once the chocolates are melted, add in Coco Crunch (from Nestle). Spoon everything into paper cups. Add in the legs, which are made using Chocolate Pocky sticks. Refrigerate to let it set.

the backside

The eyes are made using coffee beans chocolate, which I happen to have. You can easily substitute with M&M chocolates. They are stuck onto the spider, using cookie icing from Wilton. These bottles of cookie icing are very convenient. Simply put into the microwave to re-heat, and it's ready to use.

ta da... it's alive!

 
Wishing all a Happy Halloween!

Am submitting this for October event hosted by Hankerie