A Cake fit for a King or Queen with help from Renshaw Baking

I was contacted by Renshaw Baking and asked if I would like to have a go at decorating a cake fit for the new royal baby. They would provide the marzipan and the icing and I could get creative.

I accepted the challenge and then thought, “What have I done?!”

I’m not much of a cake decorator; my creativeness and artistic ability leave a lot to be desired. But then I just focussed on what I could do effectively and well and the ideas started coming together. I have decorated a couple of birthday cakes for my daughter over the last few years; I was very pleased with myself for making the Hello Kitty cake back in March this year.

The finished cake

My cake is called “What will the baby bee?”

Geddit???

Here is how I made it…

Marzipan and icing sent from Renshaw Baking

I was sent a pack of marzipan, a large block of white icing and a primary colour multipack.

Hot toddy fruitcake

I started off by making a fruit cake. This is a moist and tasty cake and lasts well.

To make the fruitcake:

Ingredients:

900g dried fruit of your choice (I used a mixture of dried mixed fruit, sultanas and currants)

200ml hot tea

225g soft butter or margarine

225g golden caster sugar

4 eggs

225g plain flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

Method:

1. The day before you want to make the cake, soak the fruit in the tea overnight.
2. Beat the butter and the sugar together in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon or in a cake mixer with the paddle attachment.
3. Add the eggs one by one with beating and then add the flour and spices and stir until just combined.
4. Add the soaked fruit and tea mixture and stir well.
5. Pour into a lined square 20cm cake tin and bake in a preheated oven for 1 and a half hours at 140fan/160C then lower oven temperature by 20 degrees and bake for another one and a half hours.
6. Cool in the tin on a wire rack before removing from the tin and then wrapping in greaseproof paper and tinfoil until you are ready to use it.

I put a bit of marmalade on the cake board, under the cake to stop it slipping about.

Marzipan in place

The next step was to cover the cake in the lovely soft marzipan. I spread the cake with sieved and slightly diluted marmalade which acts as a glue to stick the marzipan to the cake. I rolled the marzipan out to a size that would cover the top and sides of the cake, lifted it up by rolling it over the rolling pin and then carefully lowered it over the cake and smoothed over the corners.

Smooth white icing

The white icing came next. I rolled it out with plenty of icing sugar. I know from bitter experience that there is nothing more disappointing in cake making than when the icing sticks to the work top and tears or gets mishapen when you try to move it. Again I used the “over the rolling pin” method to lift it onto the cake which I had moistened with a little cold water to stick it to the marzipan.

Almost there…

Next came the letters. “GIRL” in the red and “BOY” in the blue. These were cut out using cutters and stuck down with a little water. It was quite tricky to cut out and move the letters as it was really warm and the icing was really soft.

Make flat teardrop shapes for the wings

The soft icing was a help though, when I came to making the bee. A yellow egg-shaped piece made the bee’s body, two long thin sausages of black made the stripes, a couple of tiny balls made the black eyes and then two flat teardrop shapes in white made the wings. These stuck themselves together with the icing being so warm and soft, but a little bit of water on a tiny brush would have helped otherwise.

Finished but we need a tidy up!

After placing him on the corner of the cake, I set to making some little circles which I cut out from the left over blue, red and yellow icing using a large piping nozzle as a mini cutter. These were stuck on with water too.

Tadaa!

What will the baby bee?

And that is that!

Nice and simple and I personally think quite effective! So I wonder whether Kate and William will have a boy or a girl in the end? And, equally exciting, what will the name be?

You can see the full range of Renshaw products at their website here.

I was sent a pack of marzipan, a large block of white icing and a primary colour multipack for free but the words, pictures and opinions are my own.