Voodoo 'Dolly' Bundt Cake

I set the theme for cake club every month, but I never have a cake in mind before I do. I really don't make my life easy, do I?! This month I invited my colleagues to join us for our 'Something wicked this way comes' event as part of the Whitworth's Great Office Bake Off. Whitworths kindly offered to donate £200 to our office fundraiser if we encouraged folk to bake. Not a problem!

Earlier this year, a dear friend of ours lost her baby boy Charlie and nearly her own life too. The care she received from the Royal Bolton Hospital meant that she's here with us today. We have already raised over £2500 for the Women's Health Unit at the hospital by running a bake sale, a raffle with the most fantastic prizes, and oh yeah... my friend Gemma hurled herself off a 160ft crane.

Funnily enough, I got my inspiration from a packet of Whitworth's sugar! There he was. A little gingerbread chap on my demerara. I have a wonderful festive Nordic Ware gingerbread tin... I was going to make that happy little fellow into a monster! My husband suggested I make a voodoo doll, and since I am 'Dolly', it had to be a voodoo dolly!

This recipe would work just as well for a festive cake, as it's nice and spicy. Just don't stick pins in him. Or cover him in fake blood. Bob's your uncle. 

Ingredients:

• 225g unsalted butter - softened
• 350g fine caster sugar
• 100g fine demerara sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 350g plain flour
• 6 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 250ml low fat plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• Bits and bobs to decorate - depending on if your fella is going to look evil or not!

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 C
2. Grease and flour a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch. My gingerbread tin is a 6 cup one, so I put the remainder in a mini gingerbread bundt tin. You could use a muffin tin.
3. Cream the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Add the extracts.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices.
7. Pour the yogurt and syrup into a jug, and mix well.
8. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yogurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. Don't over mix - it will be as tough as old boots.
9. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
10. Pour into the prepared tin.
11. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. It should be shrinking from the sides of the tin slightly.
12. Leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin. 
13. I decorated my voodoo dolly by making accessories out of coloured sugar paste, attached with a little glacé icing made from icing sugar mixed with water. I made the 'pins' out of cocktail sticks covered in edible silver spray topped with a little red sugar paste. Job's a good 'un.

If you fancy doing your own bake off, visit the #GOBO Facebook app, download the toolkit, have a butcher's at the Whitworths For Baking website, or tweet them @WhitworthsSugar. Please use the hashtag #GOBO so we can see them all!

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