Children's Party Cakes Recipes - Ladybird Cake

Ingredients

• 3 egg quantity quick mix sponge cake

• 175g butter icing

• 60ml lemon curd, warmed

• icing sugar, for dusting

• 1kg sugar paste icing

• food coloring

• 5 marshmallows

• 50g marzipan

• 2 pipe cleaners

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Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Grease and line the base of a 1.2litre/2 pint/5 cup ovenproof bowl. Spoon in the cake mixture and smooth the surface. Bake for 55-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool.

2. Cut the cake in half crossways and sandwich together with the butter icing. Cut vertically through the cake, about a third of the way in. Brush both pieces with the lemon curd.

3. Color 450g of the sugar-paste icing red. Dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out the icing to about 5mm thick. Use to cover the larger piece of cake to make the body. Using a wooden skewer, make an indentation down the centre for the wings. Color 350g/12oz of icing black, roll out three-quarters and use to cover the smaller piece of cake for the head. Place both cakes on a cake-board, press together.

4. Roll out 50g/2oz icing and cut out two 5cm/2in circles for the eyes, stick to the head with water. Roll out the remaining black icing and cut out eight 4cm circles. Use two of these for the eyes and stick the others on to the body.

5. Color some icing green and squeeze through a garlic crusher to make grass. Flatten the marshmallows and stick a marzipan round in the centre of each. Color pipe cleaners black and press a ball of black icing on to the end of each. Arrange grass on board, with the ladybird and decorations.