Children's Birthday Cake Recipes

Since last September when my daughter turned 1 I have been making and decorating cakes for family occasions.

I wanted to do something extra special for my daughters 1st birthday cake so that in years to come we can look back at the photos and share special memories together. I made a Fairytale Castle cake from a recipe I found in a book by Carol Deacon. I thought I had set my sites too high and had a cake recipe for a much easier cake on standby but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy complicated looking cakes can be.

The cake recipe I used I have since remade in various different shape bowls and tins to create other birthday cakes shown on other hubs. Here are the 2 recipes I have used consistently for the sponge cake and the gelatin icing for any hard drying items I have needed (such as the castle turrets) everything else has been created from various different colored sugarpaste icing which can easily be bought these days in both supermarkets and cake shops alike or from items bought and added (such as cones on top of turrets).

Madeira Sponge

Ingredients

These ingredients are suitable quantities for either a 6 inch square tin, 7 inch round tin, 1 litre pudding bowl or 2 lb loaf tin.

• 230g / 8oz Self Raising Flour
• 170g / 6oz Caster Sugar
• 170g / 6oz Soft Margarine
• 3 Eggs (medium size)
• 30ml / 2 tbsp Milk

Method

Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius / 300 degrees Fahrenheit or Gas mark 2.

Sift flour into bowl and add all the other ingredients, mix together carefully with slow setting on mixer, once mixed together increase mixer speed to higher setting and beat for one minute.

Spoon mixture into prepared baking tin / bowl and cook in centre of oven for 1 1/2hrs

Gelatin Icing

Ingredients

• 60ml / 4 tbsp Water
• 1 Sachet Gelatin Powder (approx 12g /1oz / or enough to set 600ml / 1 pint)
• 10ml / 2 tsp Liquid Glucose
• 500g / 1 lb 2 oz Icing Sugar
• 1-4 tbsp Cornflour

Method

Place the water into a small heatproof bowl, sprinkle the sachet of gelatin onto water and leave to soak in for about 2 minutes.

Sieve the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.

Place a small amount of water into a large saucepan, stand bowl of gelatin mix in saucepan and gently heat water until gelatin dissolves. Once dissolved remove heatproof bowl and add in liquid glucose stir in and leave to cool for a couple of minutes before pouring into well in icing sugar.

Stir gelatin mixture into icing sugar until it binds together, then knead into a bread dough consistency adding cornflour as required (if you want to color the icing now is a good time to knead in the coloring paste) then place into plastic bags until required.

Making the Castle cake

I started with the gelatin Icing for the turrets as this needed several hours (preferably overnight) to dry out and harden, once it is made following the above recipe it looks much like sugarpaste icing and is pliable in the same way (it is only when left out to dry it hardens). I rolled out the required amount and cut rectangles to roll around clingfilm covered cardboard tubes lightly dusted with icing sugar (makes it easier later on to remove from tubes part dried to dry insides overnight) the two edges that meet around the tube will stick together with water dampened edges the same as sugarpaste and lightly pushed together.

Having made the turrets and put them aside in a cool dry area to begin their drying process I moved onto the cake.

After the Madeira Cake was made cooked and cooled I made some buttercream to put between cake as a filling and al over the cake lightly to help the sugarpaste stick in place. Since this was the first cake I had covered in sugarpaste I cheated and bought a ready rolled sugarpaste for the main cake and even then had a few small tears (later covered with some of the flowers). I found getting the sides flat the hardest if you find you have wrinkles and overlapping areas forming that you can’t get rid of do what I did and make it an area you stick a turret in front of it!!!

All the above was done on a Thursday for a Saturday Party.

On the Thursday evening before going to bed I slid the turrets from the cardboard tubes and left to dry out inside overnight.

I continued on the Friday, I made some royal icing up and stuck the turrets in place the cones on top and the chocolate buttons around the edges of the cones I rolled the black sugar paste icing and cut out my window shapes and stuck onto the turrets with a tiny amount of water then iced the royal icing around the edges and in crosses on the windows.

The leaves were cut out from green sugar paste with a sharp knife and the flower centres and petals were cut using the wide end of a piping nozzle in the chosen pink and yellow colours.

The rocks (grey sugarpaste) around the front turrets helped to hold them in place on the cake board and the green grass at the front out the castle I just pressed green sugarpaste through a sieve to get the grass effect. (Alternative way to do this is to colour desiccated coconut green and stick onto dampened cake board).

It was the time involved in this cake that was astounding but I stopped and started several times in a day to also look after my daughters needs so don't think this took Thursday to Saturday solidly to make and decorate. I found the decorating easier to do in shorter sessions and mainly in the evening once daughter was in bed.

It may have taken a lot of time and effort but the comments I got from friends and family on the day were worth it. We also have several photos of my daughters 1st birthday to look back on in the future.

What I will warn you of is that since making this cake I have been the recipient of several phone calls and emails asking me to make cakes for other children's birthdays in my case family and non paying so bear in mind it may cost you further in time and ingredients in the future!!!!

Happy Baking

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