It’s the holidays and one great way to engage the children is to get them to help out in the kitchen. These adorable cakes are super easy to make.
It’s the holidays and one great way to engage the children is to get them to help out in the kitchen. These adorable cakes are super easy to make.
The Basic Recipes
Basic Butter Cake
Prep 15 mins / Cook 45 mins / Makes 1 Cake or 12 Cupcakes
• ¾ cup caster sugar • 2 eggs • 1 tsp vanilla extract, 125 g butter, softened
• 2 cups self-raising flour, sifted • / 3 2 cup milk
1. Preheat oven to moderate, 180 C. Lightly grease a deep, 20-cm cake pan and line with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla.
3. Fold in flour and milk, alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Spoon mixture into pan, smoothing top. Bake 40- 45 mins, until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in pan 5 mins. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Basic Buttercream
Prep 10 mins / Makes 1½ cups
125 g butter, at room temperature • 1½ cups icing sugar mixture, sifted • 1-2 tbsps milk
1. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter until pale.
2. Gradually add half icing sugar until combined. Beat in milk and remaining icing sugar until smooth.
Artist’s Palette Cake
2 x basic butter cake mixtures (see recipe), 1 quantity basic buttercream (see recipe)
Blue, green and yellow food colouring 30 cm licorice strap, cut into 3 mm wide lengths
1. Bake and cool two 20-cm round cakes using basic butter cake recipe. Trim tops of cakes to level.
2. Spread top of one cake with 1 tbsp buttercream. Using a 2.5-cm round cutter, cut a round in remaining cake for the palette thumb hole, as shown. Place on top of other cake and, using a small sharp knife, trim one side of complete cake to create palette shape as shown.
3. Reserve ½ cup buttercream. Spread top and side of cake, and the inside of the thumb hole, with remaining buttercream, smoothing with a palette knife. Divide buttercream into three bowls. Tint using blue, green and yellow colouring. Dollop on top of cake, then smear as shown.
4. Use licorice strap to outline top and base edges of cake and thumb hole as shown.
