Pumpkin Cake Pops

It’s nearly Halloween! The only time of year where I can dress up as a Goth again and not feel guilty! For those of you who don’t know, I used to dress rather “alternative” – I still listen to rock and heavy metal, in fact I’m going to Warped Tour in just over a week, but it’s no longer acceptable to dress all in black. A shame I know! But, Halloween’s more than just a good excuse for fancy dress, it’s also a great excuse to do some themed baking, and this year is no exception.

Today I’m bringing to you Pumpkin Cake Pops. I hope no one is disappointed, but they are NOT made with pumpkin puree, instead they are ginger cake with orange flavoured candy melt coating! A really fun flavour combination. (See also my top tip just below the recipe for making this recipe a little more “adult”.)

The idea was simple...make cake pops on a stick that looked like pumpkins; they would be perfect for Halloween parties being thrown all over the world. However, there were a few hiccups along the way. First of all, the flavour combination although DELICIOUS meant for a rather heavy cake pop and they simply wouldn’t stay on the stick no matter what I tried. So, rather than being on a stick, I simply made stand alone pumpkins which are just as cute and fun!

Everyday Vegetable Juice (Carrot, Celery and Orange Juice)

Seeing as this is a cookery blog, you may not be expecting to see a drink made out of raw vegetables, but hey, there is a first time for everything!

One of the biggest things I miss already about Nottingham, is the juice bar I used to visit whenever I felt like I needed a boost! (It’s no coincidence that they are called “Juice Boost Bars” haha.)

My favourite was their “five-a-day-juice” which was made up of 2 oranges, 2 apples, 2 carrots, celery sticks, beetroot & a Detox booster. YUMMY! I swear at one particularly low point during exams and revision I was addicted to these and had one almost every day which really didn’t do my bank balance much good.

The first two weeks I returned home from university I came down with a really nasty cold. It took me so long to get rid of that I found myself behind on all sort from unpacking, to registering at law school, and I hadn’t found myself a part time job. Now a month later, I’m finally back on track, then after just a few hours with my sister she passes on her Midlands germs and I’m all stuffed up once again. I am not a happy bunny!

With no juice bar to go to for my veggie juice hit and a detox booster or two, I’ve had to improvise, so for the first time ever I decided to make my own fruit juice.

Unfortunately, I do not have a fancy juicer but I do have a liquidiser!!! So that will have to do for now. So if you don’t have a fancy machine either don’t panic anything that can blitz  and shrd your veggies into a fine pulp will do the trick.

This recipe is a variation on the 5 a day juice with 3 of my favourite ingredients that we almost always have to hand, so I could drink it every day should I choose! That’s why it’s my “everyday veggie juice”.