Amscan 9902318 Cake Pick Banner - Gold

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Take the first layer of cake and put onto your cake board. Spread a thin layer of buttercream onto the bottom cake and smooth with an offset spatula. Add a thin layer of jam (around 2tsps smoothed out) on top of the buttercream. Spread a thin layer of buttercream onto the bottom of the next cake layer and lay the next sponge on top of the cake.

Add the lemon zest and juice, sift in the rest of the flour and baking powder and fold them in. Be gentle but make sure the mixture is fully combined, including any flour at the bottom of the bowl. Put this into the cake tin, smooth the batter out with an offset palette knife and bake for 45-50 minutes. Warning: this is a big cake! It’s made of four separate chocolate sponge cakes. Make each sponge cake one at a time with 4 large eggs, 225g unsalted butter, 225g caster sugar, 175g plain flour, 50g cocoa powder and 2½ tsp baking powder. You might want to make the sponges over a few days, in which case wrap them well in cling film to prevent them from drying out.

The smaller sponges for the submarine have the same ingredients as the cakes above but baked in a loaf tin, greased and lined with baking parchment. Each cake takes a mix of 2 large eggs, 112g unsalted butter, 112g caster sugar, 112g plain flour, 1½ tsp baking powder and the zest of 1 lemon (plus the juice of half a lemon) in each cake. Repeat until it is a four layer sponge cake (sponge, buttercream, jam, buttercream, sponge, etc.). Coat the entire cake in a thin layer of buttercream and smooth with an offset palette knife. This cake is made from two large sponges cut into two layers each, so there are four layers inside the cake. Make each sponge cake one at a time with 4 large eggs, 225g unsalted butter, 225g caster sugar, 225g plain flour, 2½ tsp baking powder and the zest of 2 lemons (plus the juice of 1) in each cake. You might want to make the sponges in advance, in which case wrap them well in cling film to prevent them drying out. Remove the top layer and spread a small amount of the buttercream onto the base layer, ensuring you fill all the way to the edges. Place a small amount of buttercream in a piping bag and pipe a strip around the edge of the base cake to act as a dam. Fill the inside of the dam with a small amount of jam, if using, and spread it out evenly. Replace the top sponge, then cover the entire cake with a thin layer of buttercream to seal in all of the crumbs.

Please make sure that there are no brands, logos or anything identifiable on the child's clothes, such as a school jumper. If you decorate the card with TV characters, please make sure that you only use CBeebies characters! Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

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Preheat the oven to 180 degreesC / 160degreesC fan / gas mark 4. Take your springform cake tin, line with baking parchment and grease well. This is a really good template for any sort of character cake. Once you have an iced base, you can decorate with any kind of design you like – just do a Google image search for your favourite characters. To assemble the cake, put a blob of buttercream on a 25cm cake board or serving plate. Place one of the sponges on the plate, and spread a layer of buttercream and half the jam on top. Repeat with the second sponge. Put the third sponge on top and cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream, smoothing with a palette knife. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Cut two arms and two ears from the reserved pieces of carved cake, then push these into place against the cake. Apply a little buttercream to these pieces to seal in any crumbs. Chill in the fridge for around 20 minutes to allow the buttercream to form a crust. To make the buttercream icing, whisk the butter well until smooth and very pale. Gradually add the icing sugar, a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and up to 1 tablespoon of water to loosen, if needed. Add the gel colouring a little at a time, mixing well until the desired shade is achieved. Cover the bowl and set aside (ideally overnight) until ready to use. The colours will continue to develop over time, so don’t panic if the colour isn’t right immediately. Preheat the oven to 180degrees C / 160degrees Cfan / gas mark 4. Take your rectangular baking tin, line with baking parchment and grease well. Sift in the rest of the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and fold them in. Be gentle but make sure the mixture is fully combined, including any flour at the bottom of the bowl. Put this into the baking tin, smooth the batter out with an offset palette knife and bake for 40-45 minutes.Using an offset palette knife, spread the chocolate buttercream onto the base sponge around its top edge, up to 4cm in from each side. The submarine is made from two pieces of cake. I searched online for ‘Octonauts Gup-A’ and there were loads of images to guide the shape. The bottom cake should be carved carefully with a serrated bread knife into a teardrop shape with a slight curve on the underside. The top cake should be carved into a triangular shape with a slight curve to the top.