Toadstool Cake

  • Difficulty level : Intermediate
  • Type : Dessert

Made using our Tiers & Spheres Anti-Gravity Cake Kit and our Medium Hemisphere Cake Pan

Ingredients

  • For the Cake
  • 170g caster sugar 
  • 170g margarine plus extra to grease
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract 
  • eggs 
  • 170g self-raising flour plus extra to dust
  • For the filling/buttercream
  • 50g unsalted butter softened
  • 1─2 tsp milk 
  • 2 tbsp jam 
  • 250g icing sugar 
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract 
  • To Decorate
  • 750g red Renshaw Ready-To-Roll Icing 
  • 250g green Renshaw Ready-To-Roll Icing 
  • A small food-safe cake decorating brush 
  • 250g white Renshaw Flower & Modelling Icing Paste 
  • A little cocoa powder optional
  • Ribbon to trim your cake board 

Top tip!

A day or two before making the cake, cover the base of the Tiers & Spheres Kit with a layer of green icing, then store in a cool, dry place to harden. Reserve the remaining green icing.

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas 3. Lightly grease and flour the Medium Hemisphere Cake Pan
  2. Make the cake: mix the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract, fold in the flour then transfer the mixture to the hemisphere tin. Bake for 30-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave in the tin until completely cool.
  3. Make the buttercream: beat the butter until light and fluffy then gradually stir in the icing sugar, vanilla extract and enough milk until the buttercream is a spreadable consistency.
  4. Cut the cake horizontally, spread one of the cut edges with jam and a thin layer of the buttercream, then put the cake back together.
  5. Construct the Tiers & Spheres Anti-Gravity Kit with all of the rods stacked together centrally. Take 150g of the white modelling icing and roll it into a rectangle roughly 13 x 10cm and wrap it around the central rod to cover it completely, making the stalk of the toadstool. Press it into place and shape with your hands, making it wider at the base. Roll out a thin strip of white modelling icing about 2cm deep and gather it around the top of the stalk to make a filled skirt’.
  6. Dot a little buttercream on the underside of the cake, then place the cake onto the medium-sized platform from the Tiers & Spheres Kit and cover it with a thin, smooth crumb coat of buttercream. Place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to harden.
  7. Ice the cake: roll out the red icing into a circle approximately 30cm diameter. Place the cake/platform on top of the stalk and drape the red icing over the cake, letting it hang down below the base of the cake. Trim the icing with scissors if necessary, and shape the edges with your thumb and forefinger. Decorate the toadstool with circles of white icing ─ dampen the backs with a little water before positioning.
  8. Make some tiny toadstools using the white modelling icing for the stalks and red icing for the tops ─ dampen the underside of the tops with a little water before placing onto the stalks. If you wish, you can mix a little cocoa powder with water to make a paint and rub a small amount onto the bases of the toadstools with a small food-safe brush to resemble dirt. Roll a few vines out of green icing and fix around the base of the toadstool, dampening the bases with a little water before positioning. Add a ribbon trim to your cake board, and you’re done!