Princess birthday cake

10-12

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter, softened
1 å_ cups caster sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 å_ cups self raising flour
1 cup milk
Decoration
300mL thin cream
1 tablespoon caster sugar
å_ teaspoon vanilla extract

You will need a Dolly Varden cake tin (mine has top diameter 19cm, base diameter 5cm, height 14.5cm) for this recipe.

Method

Preheat oven to 180å¡C. Liberally grease the cake tin with butter and then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of flour. Jiggle the tin around to coat evenly, then discard any remaining flour.

In an electric mixer, beat butter for 2 minutes until pale in colour and creamy. Add sugar one third at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about a minute between each addition. Add the vanilla essence and beat until combined. Sift flour and add half to butter mixture with half the milk, beat until well combined. Repeat with remaining flour and milk.

Spoon mixture into tin, place on a baking tray to catch any over flow and bake for 45-50 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, loosen edges with a knife and then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Use a serrated/bread knife to trim the base of the skirt (top of the cake) so it will sit flat and cut a hole in the new top of the skirt. I dismembered the legs from an unlucky Barbie and cut a small hole in the top ÛÒ but you could cut out a longer hole and keep BarbieÛªs legs intact. Relax; our Barbie was put back together after the party!

Decoration

Whip cream with sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Attach a star piping nozzle to the piping bag and fill with å_ of the cream. Squeeze cream into bowl until you get an even Û÷flowÛª through the nozzle. Pipe stars onto the cake in long triangle shapes, leaving gaps for the pink parts of the skirt. Squeeze out any leftover cream into the bowl. Add a couple of drops of red colouring to the remaining cream and mix until an even pink colour. Pipe in remaining pink panels of skirt and the PrincessÛª bodice (averting your eyes delicately at the appropriate moments).

Notes:

Cooking time really depends on the size of your cake tin ÛÒ if it is smaller than mine (see above), cook for a shorter time, if larger, cook for longer. Also, Dolly Varden tins are an unusual shape, so the top may look a bit over done before the centre is cooked. DonÛªt worry about this as you will be trimming the top.
To make the Big Day preparations easier, make the cake the day before and keep in an airtight container in the fridge (also easier to keep the cake a secret). On the day of the party, decorate and return to the fridge until serving.
Preparation time: 25 minutes, baking time: 45-50 minutes, decorating time: 30 minutes.