Frosty Robin Cake
Remember to factor in icing drying times when starting your cake decoration. Hands-on time 1½hr, plus overnight dryings. Serves 20
● 2-3tbsp apricot jam
● 20.5cm fruit cake, see recipe on page 164 of November issue
● Icing sugar, to dust
● 500g natural or golden marzipan
● 500g white sugarpaste icing
● Brandy, gin, vodka or cooled boiled water, to brush
TO DECORATE
● About 75g green sugarpaste icing
● About 30g red sugarpaste icing
● About 70g brown sugarpaste icing
● About 20g white sugarpaste icing
● Edible glue
● About 5g orange or yellow sugarpaste icing
YOU’LL ALSO NEED
● 4½-6cm veined holly or ivy plunge cutter, or both (we also used a tiny ivy one)
● Small paintbrush
● Green and red lustre dust, optional
● Ribbon, optional
1 A few days before you want to make the cake decoration, in a small pan gently warm jam to loosen. Pass through a sieve into a small bowl.
Put cake on a board and brush top and sides with sieved jam. Set aside.
2 Lightly dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out marzipan until large enough to cover cake (see GH Tip). Lift on to cake and use your hands to gently smooth into position. Trim excess. Leave overnight at room temperature for the marzipan to harden slightly.
3 On the same day, line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Lightly dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out the green sugarpaste until it is 3mm thick. Stamp out holly or ivy leaves
(or both) and lay on to some lightly scrunched foil sausages on the lined baking sheet, to help give the leaves some movement. Reroll and stamp out trimmings (you need about 25 leaves). If you’ve made holly leaves, use about 5g of the red sugarpaste to make tiny balls for the holly berries and add to the lined sheet. Leave to harden overnight.
4 When your marzipan has hardened, lightly dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out the 500g white sugarpaste until large enough to cover cake. Brush the marzipan with brandy/ gin/vodka/water to moisten. Lay over the white sugarpaste, smoothing all over with your hands as before. Trim excess.
5 Transfer to a cake stand or plate. If you have time, allow the white layer to dry overnight at room temperature. If you don’t have time, carry straight on.
6 To model the robins: use about
25g brown sugarpaste to model the first body, shaping a head, plump breast and pinching out a tail (you can mark it with a knife to look like feathers). Repeat with 25g more to make another adult body, and about 15g to shape the baby bird’s body.
7 Next, using some of the red sugarpaste, make the hats. Shape 2 squat cones with about 8g sugarpaste each, hollowing out the bases a little to make space for the birds’ heads. Shape on to the adult heads, adding ridges with the handle of a paintbrush to give them a more realistic appearance. Next, make and attach a hat for the baby bird, using about 5g red sugarpaste.
8 Using some of the white sugarpaste, make bands for the bases of the hats and stick on with a tiny bit of edible glue, if needed. Mark with a knife, if you like, to add texture. To make the pompoms, shape small white balls and stick on to the hats, using a little edible glue if needed.
9 Using the remaining white sugarpaste, roll out thin ovals and stick to the birds’ chests and sides, smoothing out the edges. Use the remaining red sugarpaste to make smaller red ovals to stick on to the centres of the white chests, again smoothing out the edges.
10 Next, shape 6 wings using the remaining brown sugarpaste; 4 larger and 2 smaller. Stick to sides of birds, using edible glue if needed, and mark with a knife to add feather texture. Finally, shape tiny beaks using the orange/yellow sugarpaste and stick to the birds’ faces. Set robins aside (leave overnight on baking parchment to harden, if you have time).
11 If you like, lightly brush your holly/ivy leaves with some green lustre and roll the berries (if made) in some red lustre. Using a little edible glue to help them stick, arrange the dried leaves in a wreath around the top (and a little down the sides) of the cake. Next, stick on the red berries, if made.
12 Slice the Flake bars into shorter lengths and lightly dust with icing sugar to resemble snowy logs. Arrange on the cake and sit the birds on top of them. If you like, secure a ribbon around the base of the cake and you’re good to go!
GET AHEAD Assemble the cake up to 2 weeks ahead and store at cool room temperature.