Method
1 Preheat the oven to 170ºC (325ºF, Gas Mark 3) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
2 In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.
3 In a separate bowl whisk together the flour and baking powder. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4 Evenly fill the muffin cups with the mixture and bake for 18–20 minutes or until nicely browned and a skewer inserted into a cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
5 Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with buttercream and cover with a circle of sugarpaste.
Mini Cakes
These charming mini cakes are very popular and make the main cake go much further. Children love them, especially if they are made from sponge, which you can flavour to your taste. Ideally, use the Silverwood 6cm (2½in) mini pan set (see Suppliers), but if you don’t have this you can just make one large cake and cut it into individual rounds using a 5cm (2in) round cutter. Serve on 7.5cm (3in) cake cards.
Ingredients
For 16 mini cakes or one 18cm (7in) cake to be cut into rounds
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF, Gas Mark 4), and prepare the cake pans with silicone liners or with greaseproof paper.
2 Prepare the mixture as for the Madeira cake and half fill each cake pan. Bake in the centre of the oven for 15–20 minutes. You may wish to put a baking sheet on the bottom shelf to catch any drips. When cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
3 Leave the cooled cakes in the pans and slice neatly across the tops with a long-bladed knife, using the pan tops as a cutting guide.
4 Remove the pans from the base and gently pull the halves apart to remove the cakes. You may need to run a thin-bladed knife around the top edges to release any slight overspill. Place the cakes on a wire rack. Once cooled, keep them covered, as they will dry out very quickly.
5 Cover each cake around the sides and top with a coating of buttercream, then cover with rolled sugarpaste.
Sugar Flower Paste
This is a good strong paste that can be rolled very thinly. It is ideal for making delicate objects such as flowers and butterflies. It is used to make the windscreen (windshield) on the car in the Motor Mania cake.
Ingredients
Method
1 Lightly beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl. Sieve the icing (confectioners’) sugar and gradually add it to the egg whites beating well between additions until a soft peak consistency is reached.
2 Add the CMC (Tylose) powder and white vegetable fat (shortening). Beat again – it will thicken immediately.
3 Remove from the bowl and knead well for a few minutes until soft, smooth and stretchy.
4 Put into strong polythene bag immediately then into an airtight container. The paste will keep for many weeks and can be stored in the fridge.
Pastillage
Pastillage is a form of sugarpaste that dries very hard so is ideal for pieces that need to remain rigid such as the toy box and the headboard.
Ingredients
Method
1 Place the egg whites into a mixing bowl and beat.
2 Add the dust food colour to the sifted icing (confectioners’) sugar, and add gradually to the egg whites, beating after each addition.
3 When all the sugar has been added, mix in the CMC (Tylose) powder to form a stiff paste.
4 Remove the mixture from the bowl and knead into a smooth paste. Wrap tightly in a freezer bag and place in the fridge until required.
Tip
You will need to repeat this recipe five times to complete The Toy Box cake on page 52. It is best to make one mix at a time so as not to overload your mixer.