Spooky Cake

This cake is a hit at Halloween at any kid's party! It takes time, but its worth the effort.

• Ready In: 3 hrs
• Yields: 1 cake

Ingredients

• For the cake

• 500  g caster sugar
• 500  g  soft butter
• 500  g self-raising flour, sifted
• 2  teaspoons baking powder
• 10  eggs, beaten
• 1  teaspoon vanilla essence

• For the filling

• 150  g butter, softened
• 275  g icing sugar, sifted
• 2  tablespoons lemon juice
• 200  g  apricot jam

• For the icing

• 1 (250 g) packet white marzipan cornflour (for rolling out)
• 1 1⁄4 kg  icing (orange, black, yellow, green)
• 2  tablespoons  apricot jam
•  black licorice bootlace
•  green licorice bootlace

Directions

1. Grease and base line two 3 ltr.
2. ovenproof pudding basins.
3. Combine the castor sugar, sugar, butter, flour, baking powder, eggs and vanilla essence.
4. Beat well until smooth.
5. Divide the mixture between the 2 bowls.
6. Smooth the surfaces and bake at 180C degrees for 1 hour until they are well-risen and firm to the touch.
7. Cover them with foil if they turn too brown.
8. Leave in the basins for 5 minutes, then turn them out and cool on wire racks.
9. Beat butter together with the icing sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
10. Trim the crusty top off the cakes to make flat surfaces.
11. Cut each cake horizontally through the middle.
12. Spread the cut surface of the slices with butter icing followed by jam.
13. Sandwich the cakes together, one upturned on the other, to form a round shape.
14. Brush all over with remaining jam.
15. Divide the marzipan into 8 portions.
16. Roll into long sausage shapes on a cornfloured surface.
17. Drape over the cake to form ridges, tuck under base and trim off the excess.
18. Press down firmly at the top to make an indentation for the stalk.
19. Colour 3 quarters of the ready-to-roll icing orange.
20. Roll out on cornfloured surface and use to cover the cake.
21. Tuck the ends under, trim and save the excess.
22. Colour equal portions of the remaining icing black, yellow, dark green and pale green.
23. Roll and carefully cut into triangles for the eyes and the nose.
24. Then brush one side of the shapes lightly with jam and fix into place.
25. Cut a mouth shape through the orange icing on the cake and brush the sponge with more jam.
26. Cut out a mouth shape from yellow icing and fit into gap.
27. Make teeth from remaining orange icing and fix in place with jam.
28. Surround mouth with black liquorice bootlace, fixing firmly with jam.
29. Lightly knead the green icings together and shape or roll into stalk and leaf shapes.
30. Fix onto the cake with jam.
31. Wind green bootlaces around a clean pencil.
32. Remove gently and place by the leaves to form curly tendrils.