Move over Mr. Turkey, it’s time for this magical swan cake to take center stage on the Christmas table.
FOR THE CAKE
- 115g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 115g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 115g self-raising flour, sieved
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp jam (for filling)
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 100g unsalted butter, softened
- 225g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
FOR THE DECORATION
- 400g white chocolate
SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT
- Small hemisphere cake pans
- Edible gold glitter (try Lakeland’s Edible Glitter Dust Pump)
- Edible gold silk
- Nonstick baking tray liner
- Edible food art pen
- Skewers
MAKING THE CAKE
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- Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Grease the cake pans with a little butter.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs then gently fold in the flour and baking powder.
- Divide the mixture between the cake pans, ensuring the surfaces are level, then place on a baking sheet. To hold the pans steady, stand them on cooking rings. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until well risen, firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
DECORATING THE CAKE
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- Make the swan’s neck and crown in advance. Mold the white icing into the shape of the swan’s neck and head and pinch it at the end to make the beak. Insert a skewer halfway up the neck and cut to length – leave about 8cm to poke into the cake to hold the neck up. Shape the small crown and leave them both to completely harden overnight.
- To make your buttercream, mix the softened butter with the icing sugar and vanilla extract and beat until smooth and creamy.
- Cut the bottom off one of the hemisphere cakes to steady the cake, then sandwich the two cakes together with jam and buttercream.
- To make the feathers, melt the white chocolate and lay your non-stick liner out in a long line. Using a teaspoon or palette knife, dollop a blob of chocolate onto the sheet and spread in one swift motion to get a feather effect with a pastry brush – you’ll need enough of these feathers to cover the cake completely. Leave to set for about half an hour before gently peeling each feather off the non-stick paper, and coat each feather end with gold edible glitter.
- Cover the whole cake in a thick layer of buttercream. Starting at the back, carefully stick and overlap the feathers, using extra buttercream or melted chocolate if you need to stick them on top of each other. Work your way around to the front and make sure the last few feathers below the neck are assembled neatly as the join will be visible.
- Once the neck and crown have hardened, mix some of the edible gold silk with a drop of clear alcohol (vodka or gin) to make a paint. Using a brush, paint the gold onto the crown and beak.
- Cover the crown with edible gold glitter and leave to dry. Once the crown is dry, you can use edible glue or a small skewer to attach it to the head.
- Use an edible food art pen or black food colouring to draw on the swan’s eyes and other details.
- Attach the neck onto the body by pushing the skewer into the cake and use a little buttercream to neaten up the join.
Cooks Tip: You could also make the feathers with meringue – simply whisk egg whites and caster sugar until glossy, then pipe or spread into feather shapes on non-stick paper and bake until dried out.
www.lakeland.co.uk