PLAYFUL KITTEN CAKE  

A street kitten playing with a ball of wool makes an unusual but simple cake 

MATERIALS

• 2 x 1 liter ( 2 pint / 5 cups) bowl-shaped cakes
• 25cm ( 10in ) round cake board
• 1.75kg ( 3½lb ) sugarpaste / rolled fondant
• blue, pink & black food coloring pastes
• icing/confectioners' sugar in a sugar shaker
• 280g ( 90z / 1 generous cup ) buttercream
• sugar glue 

EQUIPMENT.

• large rolling pin
• sharp knife
• small circle cutter

PLAYFUL KITTEN CAKE METHOD:

Color 315g ( 10oz ) of sugar paste blue. Using icing sugar, roll out and cover the cake board completely. For a fabric effect, press the rolling pin onto the cake board surface to form indents, then trim excess sugar paste from around the edge. Put aside to dry.

Trim the crust from each cake and slice the top  flat. Sandwich together with buttercream, then spread a thin layer over the surface to help the sugar paste stick. Color 1.25kg ( 2½lb ) of sugar paste pale pink. Using 500g ( 1 lb ), thinly roll out and cover the cake completely. Do not worry if the covering is untidy as this will be hidden later.

 

To make the strands of wool, roll long, thin sausages of sugar paste and stick them over the cake with sugar glue. Apply six or seven strands right across the top of the cake, the bottom all the way round to the base at the other side. Cover the two remaining sides with diagonal strands which will leave a small triangular shape uncovered at the base. Cover this with vertical strands. Roll a few extra strands and stick them randomly over the cake.

 

Colour 155g ( 5oz ) of sugar paste black. Using 60g ( 2oz ), roll a teardrop shape for the kitten’s body  45g (1 ½ oz) roll an oval shape for the head. Roll a thick sausage using 30g ( 1oz ) and cut four short lengths for the legs. With the remaining black, make two triangular-shaped ears, two tiny flattened balls for the pupils, and then roll a little pointed tail. Cut two small triangular shapes from the remaining pink sugar paste to fill in each ear: also model a flattened ball for a collar and shape an oval nose.

 

With a little white sugar paste, flatten a tiny ball for a muzzle and stick it onto the oval-shaped head. Using a knife, mark a line on the muzzle with a knife, then indent a smile using the circle cutter pressed in at an angle. Just above the muzzle, stick on two small flattened balls of white with two slightly smaller flattened balls of blue at the base, then finally secure the pupils made earlier. Stick the kitten's nose in place.

 Assemble the kitten on top of the cake. Roll balls of white sugar paste for the paws and stick them in place with sugar glue. To finish, roll a final strand of wool using the last of the pink sugar paste and stick it in position draped around the kitten, falling onto the cake board

 USEFUL TIP

To create a smooth, crack-free sausage shape, roll a small piece of paste into a ball, then gently roll over the work surface, stretching along the length. Don't press down too hard or you will flatten the sugar paste. Use icing sugar to prevent sticking.

 Also Read: SPORTY SPIDER CAKE