You can’t get a cake much sweeter than this gorgeous one! Whether you remember it from The Australian Women’s Weekly’s famous ‘Children’s Birthday Cake Book‘ of your childhood or are serving up for the little shop keeper in your home, it’ll definitely have your party guests impressed.
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Ingredients
Sweets shop
Butter cream (1 quantity)
Method
Sweets shop
1.Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Grease cake pans, line bases and sides with baking paper, extending paper 5cm above sides.
2.Make cakes according to directions on packets. Pour one-quarter of the mixture into bar pan, pour remaining into square pan. Bake bar cake about 30 minutes and square cake about 1 hour. Stand cakes in pans 5 minutes before turning, top-side up, onto wire rack to cool.
3.Level tops of cakes, turn cakes, cut-side down. Cut 1cm deep recess into square cake, leaving 1cm border. Cut 2.5cm wide, 1cm deep recesses on either end of the bar cake, as pictured. Stand square cake upright on cake board. Stand bar cake in front of it to represent front window and counter of shop, secure bar cake to cake board with a little butter cream.
4.To make the butter cream. Beat the butter (and any flavouring if using) in a small bowl with an electric beater until the butter is as white as possible. (This will result in a whiter buttercream which will give you better results if colouring it). Gradually beat in half of the sifted icing sugar, then the milk, then the remaining sifted icing sugar. Beat until the butter cream is smooth and spreadable. Keep scraping down the side of the bowl during beating.
5.Tint butter cream pink. Lie square cake flat spread butter cream all over recess and border. Melt chocolate, spoon into piping bag, pipe `Sweets Shop’ in middle of recess. When chocolate is set, stand cake up again and position behind the counter, secure to cake board with a little butter cream. Spread remaining butter cream all over cake.
6.To make awning, draw stripes on the white cardboard with pink pen, cut a scalloped edge, then trim, fold and secure cardboard to front top edge of square cake, as pictured.
7.Decorate window edge and counter front with candy sticks, trim them to fit, as necessary. Use thin strips of licorice to trim awning and outline money drawer at front. Fill recesses in counter with Bo Peeps position 2 purple Bo Peeps for money drawer handle.
8.To make scales, trim ends from the ice-block stick, paint it white (leave it unpainted, if you prefer), leave to dry. When dry, balance stick across white marshmallow, secure with a little butter cream. Trim two small foil cases or milk bottle tops and stick them at either end of the stick with a little glue or sticky tape. Fill with Mentos.
Equipment 8cm x 25cm bar cake pan deep 20cm square cake pan 30cm square cake board small paper piping bag
Note
