Special Occasion Cakes Recipes - Pansy Retirement Cake

Ingredients

• 20cm round light fruit cake

• 45ml apricot jam, warmed and sieved

• 675g marzipan

• 1.1kg royal icing

• orange food coloring

• about 7 sugar-frosted pansies (orange and purple)

• 25cm round cake board

• 2 greaseproof paper piping bags

• No 19 start and No 1 writing nozzles

• 2cm wide purple ribbon

• 3mm wide dark purple ribbon

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Method:

1. Brush the cake with the apricot jam. Roll out the marzipan and use to cover the cake. Leave to dry overnight.

2. Secure the cake to the cake board with a little royal icing. Tint a quarter of the royal icing pale orange. Flat-ice the cake with three layers of smooth icing. Use the orange icing for the top and the white for the side. Set aside a little of both icings in airtight containers for decoration.

3. Spoon the reserved white royal icing into a greaseproof paper piping bag fitted with a No 19 star nozzle. Pipe a row of scrolls around the cake top. Pipe a second row directly underneath the first row in the reverse direction. Pipe another row of scrolls around the base of the cake.

4. Spoon the reserved orange icing into a fresh piping bag fitted with a No 1 writing nozzle. Pipe around the outline of the top of each scroll. Pipe a row of single orange dots below the lower row of reverse scrolls at the top and a double row of dots above the base row of scrolls. Arrange the sugar-frosted pansies on top of the cake. Decorate the side with the ribbons.