Star Wars cake

[BrainGirl]

That is amazing! What flavour was the cake?

[Pebbles82]

Well other half said the cake had to taste nice and not just look good so I used a recipe I've used before than comes out nice - I got it from the wrapper of a cake tin and adapted it. It's a buttermilk sponge cake. I think the buttermilk recipes are american. It's basically a standard sponge cake with less butter and buttermilk add it and then whatever flabouring you want. Last year it was one tall cake so I put blueberries in. This year I made two thinner ones to sandwich so I used orange peel and put blueberry jam in the middle (little boy loves blueberries). It's really easy too as it's an all in one recipe - I think the buttermilk helps it rise and it's not as dry as a madeira cake, but firm enough to cut for shaping.

We only have a tiny mini oven so I had to make two batches and cook both halves of the cake separately, which usually means one half is thicker than the other half lol, plus the cakes come out looking like they've been sunbathing too long on one side. But who cares, it tastes ok! I sliced off the overcooked top bit before icing to get rid of the darker side. The bottom layer was in a 9" x 13" traybake pan and I cut round the stormtrooper tin to get the same shape so there were loads of offcuts which we've also been eating warmed up as pudding lol.

I am never doing it again though! What a palaver. Next year it will be something much simpler.

Here's the recipe if you want it:

400 grammes self raising flour
400 grammes sugar
50 grammes ground almonds (you can substitute this for more flour if wanted)
2 rounded teaspoons of baking powder (raising agent)
half a teaspoon of salt (helps raising agent)
125 grammes proper butter
250 mls buttermilk
3 large eggs (or 4 small eggs or 3 and a half medium eggs)
Grated rind of two oranges (or substitute lemon rind or blueberries or whatever)

Put everything in a bowl, blend on low speed for 1 minute, then high speed for 2 minutes, put in the tin and bake at 175 degrees conventional (or fan equivalent) for about 40 to 60 minutes (prob less for a fan oven). Ready when firm but springy.

That fills a 9" x 13" traybake tin or would probably do two 7" round sandwich cake tins as well. Or it fills a large bundt tin.

[BrainGirl]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

I sliced off the overcooked top bit before icing to get rid of the darker side.

Being that it was a Stormtrooper cake, I would have only used the "dark side"

Sorry

Thanks for the recipe! It sounds delish. Anything made with sour milk seems to come out really moist but firm. I had a rhubarb sour cream cake recipe that was awesome, I wish I could find it again. Besides, it gives me an excuse to buy buttermilk, one of my favourite drinks. I just never seem to buy it for myself

[Pebbles82]

Lol! I did think 'dark side' when I typed that. Great minds think alike.

[BexieID]

The cake looks awesome! I made Tom a Lego brick cake for his 6th birthday and it looked more like a 'melted' Lego brick! I just can't do that icing! Pirate ship for his 7th, last year was just the number 8 but I made Angry Birds models to go on it. This year he's specifically said that he doesn't want me to bake a cake! Not having much luck with a Minecraft one either

[Pebbles82]

The Icing is pants isn't it - I've avoided it for years. The last two years I kind of cheated and bought a pirate ship mould the cake comes out the shape of the ship and no icing, I just stuck smarties round it and stuck some chocolate fingers in for cannons - and made a mast, which wasn't too hard. The previous two years I also cheated - it's easier when they're little. I made a train cake which is piece of cake if you don't mind the pun. You just buy a chocolate covered swiss roll and some mini chocolate covered swiss rolls, some biscuits with faces and some oreos. Stick a mini one on top of the big one for a funnel, stick the other mini ones behind it for carriages, the face biscuit goes on the front and 3 oreo biscuits each side for wheels. Trouble is once they get to 7 they're hard to impress lol.

Actually the icing on this one wasn't too hard because you just press it into the cake tin first (yes I got a stormtrooper shaped cake tin) then put it in the freezer for half an hour and it comes out like a solid mask (I got that tip on the internet). Except I didn't leave enough overhang so had to cut a separate strip to go round the edge so there's a seam but we don't care about seams.

I think next year it'll just be a round cake with candles. A Minecraft one sounds really difficult!

I quite fancy making a minion one but it does look hard!

[souffle]

Fab cake I love making birthday cakes

[Pebbles82]

I do as well really, but it can get a bit fraught! Never using black icing again.

[BexieID]

I'm cheating with the Minecraft one as no one sells them (and i'm not to bake one becase apparently he doesn't like homemade cakes), i'm getting the small round decorate your own cake from Morrisons and having a Minecraft cake topper made! I would have just got the A4 size print your own one from Asda but don't fancy eating cake days on end! I could be swayed with a chocolate one!

[Pebbles82]

That sounds like a good idea. Our little boy goes through phases as to whether he likes home-made cakes or not - usually on his birthday he's too excited to eat cake anyway. I froze half of it and we ate it last weekend. It starts getting expensive too doesn't it?!