(Baker) Helena Garcia - The Wicked Baker Cakes and treats to die for

Welcome all to my wonderful world of creepy bakes and unusual desserts! I cant express enough how delighted I am to have been given the opportunity to put this little book together. Although many of you would want to use these bakes as inspiration for Halloween, the flavours and concepts are suitable all year round. I have spent hours in the kitchen developing delicious recipes as well as fun and bizarre projects. This means that if you feel like making a delightful chocolate-peanut butter cake, buttery cookies or a vegan dessert, you can refer to this book. You see Mr Hollywood, style and substance are in one place!

Since I was a teenager, I have been fascinated with all things strange and obscure. Learning that most of our festivals and celebrations come from pagan traditions opened a whole new world for me when I was younger. A world I felt connected to.

My grandparents come from Celtic Galicia in Spain, and its the Celts we need to thank for creating my favourite celebration. Halloween is a holiday which brings me immense joy throughout the year. It is present in everything I do, how I dress, the way I decorate my house and, of course, my baking style.

I first experienced Halloween when I was 17. I spent my last year of high school in Las Vegas, USA. Throughout October the school was completely decorated, and everyone came to class in costume, including the teachers. The houses on the street I lived in had their garages open and were transformed into haunted houses. The stores were bursting with pumpkins, candy, skeletons and pointy hats. I was hooked.

My obsession evolved throughout the years and when I was given the opportunity to take over a Victorian-style apothecary in Leeds, cauldrons and potion bottles started appearing on its antique mahogany shelves.

My aim has always been to turn what was seen as a tacky and commercial holiday into a sophisticated and spiritual one. Ultimately, Halloween is European and its time to bring it back home and reclaim it.

I tend to see beauty where others see darkness, but I find that if you apply a little touch of humour to macabre concepts, the result is an array of opportunity. I do tend to stay away from gory projects because, after all, I am creating delicious food. However, I know there are some real gore junkies out there, so I have sneaked in a just for you bloodthirsty folk.

I love cooking in general, but baking feels like cooking with added creative possibilities. Most of the baking projects in this book have a spooky decorative touch, but not all. There are recipes for all skill levels, from simple cookies to an elaborate four-layer haunted tree cake ( ). I just hope these bakes bring you as much joy as creating them have brought me.

Cooking note:The recipes in this book were tested in a fan-assisted [convection] oven. If your oven is not fan-assisted, raise the Celsius temperatures given throughout by 20C.

The Fahrenheit temperatures in the book are for regular (non-fan) ovens.

These candle cakes are based on blood candles I have at home. Theyre covered in black wax but when you light them, they drip red blood. I think theyre really cool, so I just had to adapt them into an edible equivalent. It is a straightforward recipe and perfect for a centrepiece dessert. The cake base is red velvet. A little tip to get a darker black buttercream: make it the day before as it darkens with time.

Sponge

285g [2 cups] plain [all-purpose] flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda [baking soda]

1 tsp salt

4 Tbsp cocoa powder

2 Tbsp red food colour

1 tsp vanilla extract

115g [ cup] unsalted butter, at room temperature

300g [1 cups] caster [granulated] sugar

2 large eggs

240ml [1 cup] buttermilk

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Cream cheese frosting

225g [1 cup] full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature

55g [ cup] salted butter, at room temperature

360g [3 cups] icing [confectioners] sugar

50g [ cup] black or regular cocoa powder

black food colour