Hedgehog Novelty Cake

Ingredients

Cake
125g/4oz Odlums Self Raising Flour
125g/4oz Butter or Margarine (room temperature)
125g/4oz Golden Caster Sugar
2 large Eggs

Icing
25g/1oz Cocoa Powder
60ml/3 tablespoons Boiling Water
175g/6oz Butter (room temperature)
250-350g/9-12oz Icing Sugar

To Decorate
Chocolate Buttons (for bristles)
Glacé Cherry (for nose)
2 Chocolate Buttons or Smarties (for eyes)

Method

For Cake
1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Grease and base line a 19cm / 7½” sandwich tin.
2. Place all the cake ingredients into a bowl and beat until smooth. Transfer to prepared tin, smooth top with back of spoon.
3. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until risen and when gently touched it springs back.
4. Turn onto wire tray, remove paper and allow to cool.

For Icing
1. Dissolve the cocoa in the boiling water, making a paste.
2. Beat the butter until softened, then add icing sugar and beat really well until mixture becomes pale in colour.
3. Finally, beat in the cooled cocoa.

To Make Hedgehog
1. Cut cake in half vertically and sandwich the two halves together with some of the icing.
2. Cut off pieces from one end of the cake to shape the head. Now spread remaining icing liberally all over the cake, smooth it neatly around the pointed end for his face and mark all over with a fork.
3. Stick the buttons into the icing all over the hedgehog’s body to resemble bristles.
4. Transfer to serving dish. Place the eyes and nose in position.

Note:
For a larger cake, simply double the recipe to make two cakes. Then cut both cakes in half vertically and sandwich 3 of the halves together to make the body. And use the outer sides of the final half to make the head.

Source: Odlums