Barbie Doll Birthday Cake

A toddler girl's dream come true! After looking all over the place for instructions, I finally put a few different construction ideas together. I bought a cheap barbie, undressed her, wrapped her legs in cling film and used her in the cake. After the cake had been cut, I unwrapped her from the cling film and dressed her and gave her to my daughter, who still talks about her doll's 'beautiful cake dress'! I used a 2-litre/4-pint oven-proof mixing/pudding Pyrex bowl and a 20cm round cake tin. Barbie's legs are long, hence the extra 20cm cake under the bowl-shaped one. Prep time includes decorating time.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 15-25

Ingredients

• 635  g self-raising flour
• 510  g caster sugar
• 510  g butter (softened)
• 9  eggs
• 4  tablespoons milk

• FOR THE ICING

• 250  g butter (softened)
• 500  g icing sugar
• 1 -2  tablespoon hot water
•  fondant (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees celcius/300°F.
2. Wipe a little butter around the inside of the bowl and tin, then line with greaseproof/baking paper.
3. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl.
4. Add the sugar, butter, eggs and milk.
5. Mix until it looks pale and creamy, using electric mixer or wooden spoon.
6. Divide proportionately between the pudding bowl and the tin and smooth the tops.
7. Bake for approximately 1 1/2 hours (If you stick a skewer into the centre it should come out clean).
8. Remove from oven, turn them out and gently remove baking paper. Allow to cool completely.
9. Mix the icing ingredients well.
10. If desired, carefully slice both cakes in half, horizontally and fill the middle with icing. (Cover and save the rest of the icing until later).
11. Place upside-down pudding bowl cake on top of round cake, with icing between them.
12. Wrap in foil or cling film and place in freezer for 20 mins or fridge for an hour. (this will firm up the cake to allow you to cut the hole for Barbie's legs, and create less crumbs when icing the cake).
13. Use a long knife(eg bread knife) to cut a hole in the centre of the cake, long enough for Barbie's legs, up to just below her waist.
14. Wrap Barbie's legs in cling wrap up to her waist and insert her into the hole in the cake.
15. Colour and flavour the buttercream and/or fondant icing as desired.
16. Ice a thin layer of buttercream all over the cake. Place in fridge for 15 minutes.
17. Smooth another layer of buttercream OR roll out the fondant icing and drape around the cake, imitating the folds of a dress. If using buttercream, you can neaten it by dippng a knife in hot water and smoothing it over the icing.
18. Pipe buttercream or wrap a piece of fondant icing around Barbie's torso.
19. Embellish as you please!