Bake a Layered Cake

Bake a tasty Layered Cake

Get creative in the kitchen with an impressive bake by Hannah Neal

Here we show you how to decorate this pretty cake by Hannah Neal - and if you don’t have a favourite recipe, you can head online to find instructions on how to make Hannah’s carrot and lemon cakes. Using two layers of flavour means that there is something for everyone. Beginner cake decorators can enjoy practising their skills, too, as the finished result looks good if it’s a little bit messy! “The buttercream also looks great left smooth with no top layer, or with the top layer just ruffled up to give a messy texture,” says Hannah. “Plus, remember when you’re making the sunflowers, you rarely see a perfect flower in real life!”

Double layer cake

Kit List

EQUIPMENT: ◆ 10” cake drum ◆ 6” thin cake board ◆ Palette knives ◆ 3 dowels (or thick plastic straws) ◆ Small rolling pin ◆ Sunflower cutter ◆ Ball tool ◆ Foam pad ◆ Ribbon INGREDIENTS: ◆ Sunflowers: CMC powder; 100g yellow fondant icing; 50g Brown fondant icing ◆ Lemon buttercream: 300g soft butter; 600g icing sugar; 5tbsp lemon curd ◆ Cream cheese frosting: 100g soft butter; 100g cream cheese; 400g icing sugar

Make the sunflowers 1 Add a pinch of CMC powder to approximately 100g of yellow fondant icing so that the icing will set hard. Roll out the icing until thin and even, then cut out 10 sunflower shapes. 2 Place a flower on a foam pad, and use a ball tool to thin out the petals. Start about 1cm in from the tip and pull towards the centre to give it a curl. Do this to each flower, then with a drop of water, layer two flowers together to create five in total. 3 With another drop of water, stick a ball of brown icing in the centre of the flower and push down with your thumb to flatten slightly. Use a sharp tool or a cocktail stick to give it some texture. Turn the sunflower over and place onto something dome shaped, like an egg box, to let the flower dry whilst keeping its shape. Leave the flowers to dry overnight.

HAND

Get the cake mixture into the oven as quickly as possible after mixing as the raising agents start to work as soon as they are mixed with the wet ingredients. It won’t rise if it’s left out too long.

Turn the cakes upside down when cooling to give a more level top.

If the buttercream is still too stiff once beaten for a long time and doesn’t spread nicely, add a drop of hot water to loosen it.

Helping

SKILL LEVEL

Head to the members area for tasty carrot and lemon cake recipes

To see more of Hannah’s beautiful creations visit facebook.com/ theicedrose

Now make the icing For the cream cheese frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese together, then add the icing sugar a bit at a time. Mix for a good few minutes until light and creamy. For the lemon buttercream, start by beating the butter until soft, then add the icing sugar slowly. Beat it until it is a creamy texture, add the lemon curd and carry on beating until fully combined. Fill and crumb coat the cakes 4 Cut the carrot cake into two or three separate layers. Place the bottom layer onto a 6” cake board ready for stacking. Spread some cream cheese frosting on each layer, then stack the layers on top of each other. Use a palette knife to roughly apply a thick layer of frosting all around and on top of the cake. 5 Use a palette knife to gently scrape off the top layer of frosting, leaving a thin layer called the crumb coat. Refrigerate for half an hour to set the frosting. Repeat the process with the lemon cake and lemon buttercream.

Ice the cakes 6 Once set, put a thicker layer of buttercream around the cake and on the top. Roughly smooth it out with a palette knife, trying not to take too much off this time. To make a striped pattern in the buttercream, put the tip of a palette knife in hot water to make it easier to work with, then dry. 7 Place the tip flat against the bottom of the cake and gently pull round until you end up where you started. Repeat all the way to the top of the cake. Do the same to the top of the cake. Refrigerate again to make the cakes easier to handle. Repeat this process with both cakes. Decorate the cakes 8 Place the larger lemon cake on a 10” board. Put three dowels, or thick straws, into the centre of the cake, and cut them to the height of the cake to support the smaller board. Gently place the top layer down onto the dowels, and position it into the centre. Wrap a length of ribbon round the bottom of each cake. To finish, position the fondant flowers on the cake using the buttercream to make them stick.

Messy Play! “While baking is a precise art, decorating is down to your style. Go as neat, messy or elaborate as you want to; it’s a part of you expressed in the cake”

HANNAH NEAL, ICED ROSE CAKES