Birthday Cake Recipe

[scoobysoo]

Hi, I really need some inspiration. I am baking a cake for my Dad's 60th birthday, and I'm just not sure what type of cake to do. I have a cake tin in the shape of a guitar, and think it would be too tricky to cut in in half to make a sandwich-type cake. Therefore, I need a recipe for a cake that doesn't need a filling! And he doesn't like fruit cake.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated x

[Jillius]

You could make 2 of them and sandwich them together.

[scoobysoo]

I think that would be too thick

[Jillius]

Yeah, I thought that after I had replied. As long as you have a long sharp knife you should be able to cut it in half. If not, just make the one and cover it in chocolate. yummy

[welshlibranr]

I think if you make a rich sponge cake, I use butter instead of margarine for special occasion cakes, just softened a little before use, the cake really does taste lovely and rich, you can add a few drops of vanilla extract if liked. If you're going to cover the whole cake with frosting or buttercream, then I think it would be better not to fill the cake, it might be a bit much. Hope this helps............welsh

[scoobysoo]

I think I'm going to cover it with royal icing, as I want to make it look like a Fender Stratocaster!

[welshlibranr]

Hi again scoobysoo
Have you thought of using fondant icing, it's really pliable and you can easily colour it, or buy it ready coloured in lots of shades, should look great, Good Luck with it whatever you decide, let us know how it turns out! ............welsh

[scoobysoo]

What's fondant icing Welsh? Is that the stuff you make from icing sugar and water?

[philandlil]

You could put a thin layer of buttercream on top to help the fondant icing stick. Fondant icing is similar in texture to marzipan making it easy to model into shapes, supercook have a range in most supermarkets in the cake decorating section or for a wider range of colours you can get it at hobbycraft.

[scoobysoo]

Ahhhh...I never thought of Hobbycraft!

[Jugglering]

To go back to the sandwich type idea... why not just make two cakes in the shaped tin but only use enough cake mix to come half way up the sides of the tin, each time ? The resulting cake wouldn't be too thick then ! You could sandwich the two layers with a simple butter icing or jam or chocolate spread depending on what flavour cake you make.

[scoobysoo]

Yeah I think I'll give that a try tomorrow

[welshlibranr]

Hi scoobysoo
Fondant icing's readily available at supermarkets, and if you have a sugarcraft shop near to you they'll have lots of colours or you can use food colouring to make your own colour (or have a look at online sugarcraft shops) It is a bit like marzipan, but softer, you just knead it a little, then roll it out, (not too thinly, as it will be hard to handle) using a little icing sugar to stop it sticking to the board move it around often, but don't turn it over as if may tear, you can brush the top of the cake with a little warmed apricot jam to stick it to the cake. It really is easy to cover most shapes, when it's on the cake you can smooth it with your hands to take away any imperfections, and then just allow it to dry for an hour or so before storing in an airtight container............hope it works out ..............welsh

[scoobysoo]

Hi. The cake turned out really well in the end. I used a double quantity of sponge mix in my guitar-shaped tin, then carefully sliced it in half and filled with jam and buttercream (yum!). I got some ready-roll icing, and food coloring, and made the guitar to look like a red and white Fender Strat. I used licorice for the strings, choc covered raisins for the tuning knobs, hard gums for the other buttons and a piece of astro-belt for the strap. I was so pleased with it (I'm I'm not very confident with baking), and my dad just loved it. Thanks for all your help