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So the Bake Off final. Everybody reading this must have watched it, right? I knew who I wanted to win (Nadiya), though I think they all made amazing showstoppers! It made me get my thinking cap on about what I was going to produce for the Bloggers final. I never managed to join the final last year so I didn’t want to miss out this time, though I know I am up against some brilliant competition!
I knew I was going with a showstopper classic British cake, and I had a few ideas before I actually took inspiration from a cushion and decided I would make myself a house warming celebration cake…
So for the first time this series, I made like a proper Bake Off contestant and got my notepad and pen out and drew what I had in mind. I think it has turned out pretty similar to my imagination! It could do with a few improvements here & there, mainly with the icing, but I absolutely hate fondant icing cakes. Overall though, I’m pretty pleased with it after being at it on & off for 48 hours (children and general life kept getting in the way!).
If you want to have a go at something similar, here’s how to do it.
Ingredients
Cake
9 inch sponge
- 500g butter
- 500g caster sugar
- 500g Tesco self raising flour
- 10 Tesco free range eggs
- 2tsp Tesco Madagascan vanilla extract
- 200g butter
- 200g caster sugar
- 200g self raising flour
- 4 Tesco free range eggs
- 1 tsp Tesco Madagascan vanilla extract
- 340g butter
- 680g icing sugar
- 1.5tsp Tesco Madagascan vanilla extract
- 1 jar of Tesco Finest strawberry conserve
- 1kg pack Tesco white ready to roll icing
- 10 inch Tesco thick cake board
- thin circular lollipop sticks (to use as dowels for stacking the cakes)
- 500g pack Tesco chocolate ready to roll icing
- 500g pack Tesco red ready to roll icing
- ‘Snowflake’ shimmer pot/small tipped paint brush
- fondant tools
- fondant flowers
- letter cutters
- edible glue
- silver ribbon
- licorice/black icing writing pen
- Tesco porcelain cake stand
Cakes
- Preheat the oven to gas 2-3/160C/315F. Grease and line 2 x 9 inch cake tins and 2 x 6 inch cake tins (or if you only have one of each tin like me then you can do one after the other, as I did each cake in two parts rather than cutting one in half).
- For the 9 inch cake, cream the butter & sugar together, then add the flour, eggs, and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. I used my stand mixer for this so I just chucked it all in together.
- Separate the mixture between the two tins and then bake for 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Repeat the three steps above for the 6 inch cakes, but bake for 45 minutes.
- While the cakes are cooling, prepare your butter icing for the filling and crumb coat.
- Whisk the butter until creamy, then add half of the icing sugar and mix well.
- Add the rest of the icing sugar and the vanilla extract, and mix for around 5 minutes until light & fluffy. Set to one side.
- If needed, turn the cakes over and then level out so they are both the same height, either using a very sharp knife or an adjustable cake leveler.
- On one half of the 9 inch and 6 inch cakes, spread generously with the jam.
- On the other halves, spread with some of the butter icing. You will need some for the crumb coat.
- Carefully stack each half of the 9 inch cake on top of each other, fixing to the cake board using a little butter icing.
- Carefully stack the 6 inch cake and set onto a plate, or I used some grease proof paper.
- Crumb coat each cake by spreading and removing a thin layer of butter icing, then leave to dry for a few hours.
- Once ready to decorate your cakes, coat them both in another layer of butter icing – it can be a bit thicker this time. This will help the fondant coating stick to them.
- Roll out the white icing to slightly bigger than needed for the 9 inch cake.
- Using the rolling pin, carefully lift the icing onto the cake and smooth out across the top and around the sides, you can use a cake smoother if you have one. Carefully trim any excess icing.
- Repeat the above steps for the 6 inch cake.
- Poke one of the lollipop sticks into the centre of the 9 inch cake, lightly marking where it comes level with the top of the cake. Carefully remove and then cut down five sticks to this size.
- Poke the sticks right into the cake, making sure to go no wider than where the 6 inch cake will sit. These will act as dowels to stop the cake from sinking.
- Using a little butter icing like on the cake board, do the same on top of the 9 inch cake and carefully place the 6 inch one on top.
- You will now need to make the house!
Decorating – house
- Using 3/4 of the pack of chocolate icing, gently shape into a rectangle. Using a flat ended fondant icing tool, or a small sharp knife, make brick patterns all the way around the icing.
- Using the remainder of the chocolate icing (leaving a tiny bit for the door step and window ledges) do the same as for the house and make a roof and a chimney, fixing the roof to the house, and the chimney to the roof, with a little butter icing or edible glue.
- Using a little butter icing or edible glue, fix the house to the top of the 6 inch cake.
- Using the excess icing from the cakes, make a small door and two windows, and then fix to the front of the house using edible glue.
- Draw on a door handle and window outlines.
- Using the paint brush, dab some of the shimmer into the window outlines.
- With the remainder of the chocolate icing, roll a door step and two window ledges and fix to the door and windows with edible glue.
- Place some fondant flowers around the house. I used a mixture of ready made shop bought ones which I poked in to the icing, and some that I had in the cupboard which I had made myself, fixed on with edible glue.
Decorating – writing
- If you don’t have letter cutters, you could just make the letters yourself. To make mine I rolled out some of the red fondant icing very thinly and then stamped them out with my cutters.
- Very carefully, turn the letters over and spread a little edible glue on, then fix to the sides of the cakes.
- Finally, wrap some ribbon around the edges of the cakes and cut to size, then fix together with edible glue.
- Ta-da! You have a house warming celebration cake!
- Enjoy!
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Absolutely adorable!! I just love that sweet little house up top! Hazel x
Thanks! I really want to save it, hehe 🙂
Wow, 48 hrs, that's impressive! It looks so good and I just love the lettering around the side of the cake.
Angela x
Thank you so much!
Well done! You have reminded me that I need to buy some letter cutters as have a few birthdays coming up x
Thank you! I think I need to add more to my collection 😉
Stacey this is fab, well done on a grand finale x
Thank you Cathy x
such a sweet idea for a cake Stacey, and i think your fondant skills are really good (better than mine). that little house on the top tier is so cute.
thank you for joining in this year and good luck with the final x
Thank you so much Jenny, thanks for hosting again! x