Mythical Creature Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 300g butter (softened)
- 300g golden caster sugar
- 6 eggs
- 300g self-raising flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 3 Tbsp milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the buttercream:
- 375g butter
- 750g icing sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- blue and green gel food colourings
To decorate:
- handful ocean coloured sprinkle mix
- 200g green fondant
- 2 x edible candy eyes
Method
- Preheat oven to 190°C (Gas mark 5/375°F). Grease and line the base of 3 x 20cm round cake tins.
- Place the butter and caster sugar in a large bowl and whisk together until well combined and fluffy.
- Add the six eggs, two at a time, whisking after you add each pair.
- Once the eggs have all been whisked in, add the flour, baking powder, milk and vanilla. Whisk again until fully combined.
- Divide the mixture between the 3 tins, gently smoothing the tops down with a spatula.
- Bake in the preheated oven for around 20 minutes, until the cakes are golden and springy to the touch.
- Turn the cakes out onto cooling racks and leave to cool completely before icing.
- Whilst the cakes are cooling, prepare the buttercream icing.
- Whisk the butter until soft and fluffy. Add the icing sugar, a little at a time, whisking as you go until completely combined. Add the vanilla extract and whisk again until combined.
- Remove approx.. 300g of the buttercream icing and pop it into a separate bowl – this will be used to fill the cake.
- Remove another 300g of the icing – this will be used for the crumb coating.
- Divide the remaining icing into 4 and colour it in shades of green and blue using the gel food colouring.
- When ready to assemble, secure one of the cakes onto a cake board with a little buttercream icing.
- Spread over half of the buttercream icing you set aside for filling. Add a second cake and repeat the buttercream filling, then top with the third and final cake.
- Using a palette knife, spread the buttercream that you set aside for the crumb coating all over the cake. If you have a cake turntable, this will really help you to get an even coat. Spinning the cake slowly, use a large cake scraper to even out the sides.
- Once the cake is covered in the crumb coating, pipe rings of coloured buttercream onto the sides of the cake in rows – light green at the bottom, then darker green, light blue and darker blue on the top.
- Using the cake scraper, smooth the icing until roughly even and blended together. Bear in mind you’re going for a seascape effect so it doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth.
- Push a ring of sprinkles into the icing a the bottom of the cake.
- Shape the green fondant into 2 half hoops, a head and a tail. Paint the edges of edible candy eyes with blue food colouring and pop on top of the head. Place the Nessie pieces on the top of the cake.