This pretty stable and ponies will bring a sparkle to any little girl's special day

PONY STABLE CAKE 

MATERIALS

• 20cm ( 8in ) square cake
• 30cm ( 12in ) petal-shaped cake board
• 1.25kg ( 2½lb ) sugarpaste / rolled fondant
• blue, green, yellow, black & pink food coloring pastes
• icing/confectioners' sugar in a sugar shaker
• 345g ( 1loz / 1½ cups ) buttercream
• sugar glue
• silver dragees 

EQUIPMENT.

• large rolling pin
• sharp knife
• large & small flower cutters
• small pieces of foam sponge
• small circle cutter
• cocktail stick/toothpick.
• 3 x 2.5cm ( 1in ) lengths of raw spaghetti
• bone tool illustrated overleaf 

PONY STABLE CAKE METHOD:

Color 410g ( 13oz ) of sugarpaste turquoise with the blue and green food coloring pastes. Using icing sugar to prevent sticking, roll out 375g ( 12oz ) and cover the cake board, trimming excess from around the edge, then put aside to dry

Trim the crust from the cake and slice the top flat. Cut the cake exactly in half and put one half on top of the other. Cut a sloping roof, cutting down to the bottom of the top layer with a sharp knife. The cake should be sandwiched together with buttercream, then buttercream should be spread over the surface so that the sugarpaste sticks to the cake. 

Roll out 750g ( 1 ½ lb ) of white sugarpaste and put the end of the stable down on it Cut around the shape. Put the cake down on its base and, using a knife, mark lines in the sugarpaste to create a wood effect. Cover the opposite end of the cake, then the back, and finally the front in the same way before positioning the cake on the cake board.

Cut out three windows at the front of the stable, removing the sugarpaste Colour 22g ( ¼ oz ) of sugarpaste dark turquoise. Thinly roll out and cut pieces to fill the spaces  

To make the flower-shaped roof tiles, knead turquoise and white sugarpaste together until streaky. Roll out and cut out all the flower shapes with the large flower cutter. Stick the flowers over the roof with sugar glue, starting at the base and working upwards.

Create door handles by modeling little loops using the dark turquoise sugarpaste trimmings. Stick handles and a  silver drage in place on each door with sugar glue.

To make the ponies, first color 30g ( loz ) of sugarpaste pale yellow, 22g ( ¾ oz ) pink, and 15g ( ½ oz ) grey. To make the yellow pony roll 15g ( ½ oz ) of yellow into a smooth, crack-free ball, then pinch all the way around to shape the pony's muzzle, pressing gently to keep a smooth surface and pulling it to lengthen, then round off the end.

Place a length of raw spaghetti in the front window of the cake and moisten the area with sugar gue. Carefully push the pony's head in place, using a foam sponge for support while it is drying Indent a smile by pressing in the circle cutter at an angle, and indent nostrils with the tip of a cocktail stick

For the mane, shape the remaining turquoise sugarpaste into different-sized sausages tapering to a point at either end and sticking in place. Curl up the ends. then flatten a small teardrop shape for the forelock. Model tiny ears, indenting the center of each with a cocktail stick. Carefully press in silver dragees for eyes.

Model the other two ponies in the same way Make all the small flowers using the small flower cutter and remaining pink and yellow sugarpaste. Indent the center of each flower with the end of a bone tool, and stick in a silver dragee to decorate. Stick the small pink and yellow flowers over the cake board and the stable roof using sugar glue.

Leave the finished cake to dry completely before carefully removing the pieces of foam sponge used to support the ponies ' heads. 

USEFUL TIP

When the flower shape is in the cutter, rub the edge of the cutter to remove excess sugarpaste and create a clean edge.

Also Read: FORMULA 1 CAR CAKE