Flickering Candle Birthday Cake October 26, 2013

 

Stripey flickering candles are waiting to be blown out on this birthday cake. Made for Elsie, my Grandaughter who was 5 yrs old yesterday 🙂

 

I wanted a slightly taller cake to give the candles some length so made two of the below recipe then put them together with buttercream.

 

Ingredients

 

175g butter, at room temperature

175g caster sugar

3 eggs

175g self raising flour

pinch of salt

 

Method

 

Line a square 8″, deep, cake tin.

Pre heat the oven to 180c/gas 4.

Cream the butter and sugar together until it’s pale, light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift the flour and salt into the mixture and beat again.

Pour the mixture into the ready lined tin, level off with a spatula and bake for 50 – 55 minutes until well risen, golden brown and begining to shrink from the sides.

Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Once cooled, sandwich together with vanilla buttercream, using…

 

55g butter, at room temperature

30ml milk, at room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

250g icing sugar, sifted

 

Beat the butter, milk, vanilla extract and half the icing sugar until smooth. Gradually add the rest of the icing sugar and beat well until the buttercream is smooth and creamy.

 

To decorate

 

5 Tbsp apricot jam, warmed

500g ready to roll white fondant

125g green and yellow ready to roll fondant

edible sugar balls

edible-ink pens

 

Method

 

Place the buttercream filled cake onto a 9″ square cake board. Use the white fondant to cover the cake completely, trim the edges neatly.

Roll out the green fondant and cut into 5 1/2″ strips of unequal lengths, but each long enough to go up the side and on to the top of the cake.  Make a diagonal cut at one end of each. With a little water, attach these to the cake.

Roll out the yellow fondant and stamp out the flames using a leaf-shaped cutter. Attach in place with a little water. With a red edible-ink pen draw a wavy line in the centre of each flame then attach an edible sugar ball in the base of each flame.

Cut small strips of the yellow fondant and attach to the candles.

Roll out the remaining yellow fondant and stamp out small circles using the end of a piping nozzle. Repeat with the green fondant, using a smaller nozzle. Attach the green circles to the yellow circles with a little water, Attach these all around the base of the cake.

Draw wavy lines above the candles with the edible-ink pens. I used red and blue.