CHOO-CHOO TRAIN

2 packets butter cake mix 225g packaged sponge roll

(see tip)

2 quantities Vienna Cream

(recipe below left) red food colouring blue food colouring purple food colouring apricot food colouring green food colouring

8 jube rings thin licorice chocolate sprinkles wooden skewer coloured popcorn 1 pipecleaner wooden iceblock sticks 20 round chocolate biscuits assorted sweets

(as shown)

1 icecream wafer

1 board, straight or curved,

100cm x 20cm

1 Make cakes according to directions on packet, divide mixture evenly between four greased 25cm x 8cm bar tins, bake in moderate oven 30 minutes or until cooked when tested. Turn cakes on to wire rack to cool.

2 Cut bar cakes in half vertically to give eight equal pieces, reserve five of these to make tops of the four carriages and back of engine, cut remaining three pieces in half horizontally to give six equal pieces, five of which form the bases of the engine and four carriages; cut off one quarter of remaining piece to add to engine base to extend it, discard remaining three quarters.

Cut a 4cm wide slice from sponge roll, hold slice upright and cut out smoke stack shape with a 2.5cm plain cutter, as shown; use the rest of the sponge roll for engine. Assemble cake, as shown, on prepared board. 3 Divide Vienna Cream into five equal portions, tint one portion with red food colouring, one with blue food colouring, one with purple food colouring, one with apricot food colouring and one with green food colouring; cover tops and sides of the engine and carriages each with different-coloured Vienna Cream, as shown. Join carriages with pairs of jube rings: split one ring, push the other ring through it, press on to Vienna Cream. Outline engine and tops of carriages with thin licorice, as shown. Cover top and sides of smoke stack with red Vienna Cream, coat with chocolate sprinkles, position, as shown; with a skewer, make holes through five pieces of popcorn, thread on to pipecleaner, insert into smokestack.

4 Place whole iceblock sticks across front, back and between carriages, as shown, to represent sleepers; to make other sleepers, break iceblock sticks into 4cm lengths, slide them underneath edges of cake on both sides. Double strips of licorice on either side of train represent tracks. Position chocolate biscuits, as shown, to represent wheels, stick round flat sweets on chocolate biscuits with a little Vienna Cream. Cut a 4cm x 1cm strip from wafer, press strip firmly on to bottom front of engine, arrange pieces of 2.5cm licorice against wafer, as shown, to represent

“cow catcher”. Pile popcorn on top of carriages, decorate rest of cake with assorted sweets.