Today I’m making a birthday cake for my granddaughter, who is only one. So it won’t really be her who appreciates it, it will be the other people at the party.

I haven’t decorated a cake properly for ages, and I mean years and years. I don’t decorate the Christmas cake and haven’t had a reason to make one with icing on it since my kids grew past that age. So it’s been quite fun to rediscover some of my   cake-making and icing equipment which I haven’t used since we moved house.

The cake is just a one stage Victoria Sandwich which I’m going to fill with jam and then, because it’s a little girl, it’s going to have pink buttercream icing I’m afraid. I started off with the idea of putting models of the two dogs she lives with on the cake,  and then I decided I’d better put them beside the cake because they don’t really fit with pink buttercream icing.

I don’t have any fondant icing so I’ve made the dogs with pale marzipan and it’s actually worked quite well. Then of course I got the bit between my teeth and I thought, ‘ I’m gonna make some flowers now’.  I used to make a lot of fondant flowers which I really enjoyed. Sadly, the marzipan roses I have made a little bit clumsier than those made with fondant, but they’re OK and once I got the cake assembled and the buttercream on it I’m sure they will look fine. 

I modelled them in the uncolored marzipan and dusted them with petal dust in two shades of pink and gold, which is helping them a bit.

I now look forward to putting the icing on. I think I’ll leave the decorations off until we actually get to the party otherwise there’s likely to be an accident on route, and the marzipan decorations might melt into the buttercream.