Special Occasion Cakes Recipes - Birthday Parcel

Ingredients

• 15cm/6in square Madeira cake

• 275g/1 1/3 cup orange-flavor butter icing

• 45ml/3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed and sieved

• 450g/3 cups sugar paste icing

• blue, orange and green food coloring

• icing sugar, for dusting

MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT

• 15-18cm/7-8in square cake board

• small triangular and round cocktail cutters

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Method:

1. Cut the cake in half horizontally and sandwich together with the butter icing. Brush the cake with apricot jam. Color three-quarters of the sugar paste icing blue. Divide the remaining sugar paste icing in half and color one half orange and the other half green. Wrap the orange and green sugar paste separately in clear film and set aside. Roll out the blue icing on a work surface lightly dusted with icing sugar and use it to cover the cake. Position on the cake board.

2. While the sugar paste covering is still soft, use the cocktail cutters to cut out triangles and circles from the blue icing, lifting out the shapes to expose the cake.

3. Roll out the orange and green icings and cut out circles and triangles to fill the exposed holes in the blue icing. Roll out the trimmings and cut three orange strips, 2cm/3/4in wide and long enough to go over the corner of the cake and 3 very thin green strips the same length as the orange ones. Place the strips next to each other to make three striped ribbons, and secure the pieces together with a little water.

4. Place one striped ribbon over one corner of the cake, securing with a little water. Place a second strip over the opposite corner. Cut the remaining ribbon in half. Bend each half to make loops and attach both to one corner of the cake with water to form a loose bow.