Minecraft & Red Velvet Birthday Cake
A red velvet sponge layered with traditional Ermine frosting and decorated with Minecraft-inspired chocolate tiles and grass, topped with a large fondant Ender Dragon.
Ingredients
Red Velvet Sponge
- 120 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 300 g caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 75 ml olive oil
- 10 g cocoa powder unsweetened
- 45 ml red food colouring
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 25 ml white vinegar
- 350 g plain flour
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tsp salt
- 250 ml full fat milk
Ermine Frosting
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 40 g plain flour
- 0.25 tsp salt
- 250 ml full fat milk
- 250 g unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Decorating
- 1 kg fondant icing ready made, or make your own
- 1 bottle green food gel
- 1 bottle black food gel
- 1 bottle violet food gel
- cocoa powder
Instructions
For the cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line two 8" square spring-form cake tins with greaseproof paper.
- Cream butter and sugar together until light in colour. This is far easier if the butter is warm to start with.120 g unsalted butter, 300 g caster sugar
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition to combine well.4 large eggs
- Add 2 teaspoons of vinegar to the milk. Allow to sour for 10 minutes to produce buttermilk.25 ml white vinegar, 250 ml full fat milk
- In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, cocoa powder, red food colouring and vanilla extract until smooth.75 ml olive oil, 10 g cocoa powder, 45 ml red food colouring, 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Stir the coloured mixture and the remaining 20ml vinegar into the creamed sugar mixture to combine.25 ml white vinegar
- Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a separate bowl.350 g plain flour, 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 2 tsp salt
- Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately spoon by spoon to the wet mixture, mixing well in between.
- Add smooth batter to the two tins. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before adding frosting.
For the Ermine Frosting
- While the sponge is cooling, combine the sugar, flour and salt in a medium-sized saucepan and whick well to combine and remove any lumps from the flour.200 g granulated sugar, 40 g plain flour, 0.25 tsp salt
- Over a medium heat whisk in milk until misture is smooth.250 ml full fat milk
- Continue whisking constantly over the heat until the mixture has thickened to a pudding-like consistency and the whisk leaves a trail. Don't be tempted to overheat as this will burn the sugar.
- Remove from heat and pour into a heat-proof container. Cover the surface with a piece of cling film or grease-proof paper pressed directly on to the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool completely to room temperature.
- After cooling use an electric mixer to beat the butter on high speed until it is light and fluffy.250 g unsalted butter
- Reduce mixer speed to medium and gradually add cooled flour mixture, one spoonful at a time, waiting until each spoonful is incorporated before adding more.
- Stir in the vanilla extract.1 tsp vanilla extract
- Increase speed and whip frosting until it is smooth, light and airy (it should not seem greasy).
Decoration
- Once the sponges have cooled you can sandwich them together with the frosting. Cover the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting and smooth it out. Leave in the fridge for an hour to partially set.
- Take around 150g of fondant icing and work in a teaspoon of cocoa to colour it brown. Work it until it is uniformly coloured. Repeat with two more pieces of fondant, with different amounts of cocoa to get three different shades of brown.
- Roll out each brown fondant icing to around 2-3mm thick. Use a ruler and a sharp knife to cut it into a 1 inch square grid (or the width of the ruler if appropriate). Carefully pick up each square and place them in a random order on the sides of the cake.
- Using around 400g of the remaining fondant icing mix it with green food gel. Work it in fully to ensure a consistent colour.
- I used a garlic press to create the grass. You may have a better idea, but it was quite straightforward to put a ball of fondant in the press, push it a little way and cut it off with a knife. Do this a few times and then pick up the clumps of grass and gently press them on to the cake. It will take a while, but persevere for a great effect.
- For the dragon colour most of the remainder as black as you can, and a small amount should be a pale violet colour. Work off the photograph - you will need to make 10 cuboid pieces for the body of various sizes. Make them as rectangular as you can - this is Minecraft after all. Mix a small amount of icing sugar with a drop of water to make an icing glue to stick them together. You may want to make it with a drop of black food colouring instead of water to make it invisible. To make the violet spine pieces roll a long thin piece of violet fondant, square it off with a pallet knife on top, and cut it into sections. Fit all the pieces together and push them gently into the grass.