Enthrall adults and children alike with this adorable Easter cake. It will make a captivating centre piece for any of your Easter celebrations.
375ml sunflower oil
5 large eggs
300g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons ground mixed spice
a pinch of salt
300g coarsely grated carrots
200g pecans, chopped
100g raisins
finely grated zest of half an orange
Frosting
300g softened butter
600g icing sugar
200g Cream cheese
Green & Blue food colour
20 jelly mini eggs
8 bunnies cut from flower paste
20 flower paste flowers
20 flower paste flowers
8 jelly carrots (I found mine in M&S, but you could use the icing ones)
You will also need a 5 x 7inch sandwich tins, greased and lined with baking parchment. Two piping bags fitted with grass nozzle and a french swirl style nozzle
Preheat the oven to 170˚c
Mix together the sugar and oil using either an electric hand whisk or in the bowl of a free-standing mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth.
Using a large metal spoon fold in the flour, mixed spice and a pinch of salt. Next add the grated carrot, chopped pecans, raisins and orange zest and mix until thoroughly combined. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for 22-30 minutes until golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Whisk the butter until light and creamy (about 4-6 minutes) add the icing sugar and whip for another 3-5 mins, spoon a third into a separate bowl and stir in the cream cheese.
Half the remaining buttercream and colour one half blue and one half green.
To assemble the cake, place one of the cold sponges onto a serving plate and sandwich together with the second cake using the cream cheese frosting, repeat until you've used all the cakes, use the remaining CC frosting to crumb coat then place into the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
Spoon a third of the green icing into the piping bag fitted with the grass nozzle and a third of the blue into the other piping bag. Cover the top of the cake and the top half with the blue buttercream, then blend in the green buttercream around the bottom half of the cake.
Pipe the grass detail around the bottom of the cake and the swirl detail around the top of the cake.
Now decorate with the Bunnies, flowers, mini eggs and carrots.
