Busy bees buzzing around their beehive make an unusual birthday cake 

BUSY BEES CAKE 

MATERIALS

• 1 x 20cm ( 8in ) & 1 x 15cm ( 6in ) round cakes ,
• 25cm ( 10in ) round cake board
• 1.35kg ( 2 ¾  lb ) sugarpaste /
• green, yellow & black food coloring pastes
• icing/confectioners' sugar in a sugar shaker
• 440g ( 14oz / 1 ¾ cups ) buttercream
• rolled fondant 

EQUIPMENT

• large rolling pin
• sharp knife
• small circle cutter
• sugar glue
• small rose petal cutter
• large daisy cutter 

BUSY BEES CAKE METHOD:

Color 315g ( 10oz ) of sugarpaste green Using icing sugar to prevent sticking, roll out and cover the cake board, trimming any excess from around the edge. then put aside to dry Trim the crust from both cakes and slice the tops flat.

Cut a layer in the larger cake, then trim both layers to round off the edges, trimming more from one to make it smaller than the other Trim the smaller cake in the same way then, using buttercream, sandwich one on top of the other graduating in size to make the beehive shape Cut out a wedge of cake from the base for the door. Spread a layer of buttercream over the surface of all the cakes to help the sugarpaste stick.

Color 1kg ( 2lb ) of sugarpaste yellow Using 30g ( loz ), pad the top of the cake to make it dome-shaped Roll out 875g ( 1 ¾ lb ) of yellow sugarpaste and cover the cake completely smoothing around the shape, stretching out pleats and smoothing downwards Trim the excess from around the base and position on the center of the cake board.

Reserve a little yellow sugarpaste for the flower centers, then roll the remaining yellow into oval sja[e for the bees. Stick the bees over the beehive using sugar glue. Indent little smiles by pressing the circle cutter in at an angle.

Color some of the yellow sugarpaste trimmings black. Thinly roll out and cut a piece of black to fill the doorway then cut black stripes for the base strips. Roll tiny eyes then stick everything in place with sugar glue.

Thinly roll out a piece of white sugarpaste and cut out petal shapes for the bee's wing using the small rose petal cutter Stick two wings in place on each bee. positioning the wings just behind the first black stripe.

Cut out five daisy shapes using the large daisy cutter and press in the center of each to indent. Stick the daisies onto the cake board, around the base of the beehive, then stick a small flattened ball of yellow sugarpaste into the center of each daisy

USEFUL TIP

When a large piece of sugarpaste is rolled out, lift it by folding it over the rolling pin. This will make it easier to position the sugarpaste on the cake.

Also Read: CAMPING OUT CAKE