Middle Mudlet was thrilled with her cake
When Middle Mudlet started secondary school last September, the one thing she was really looking forward to was the chance to study a musical instrument and specifically the guitar. The school she attends is a Music and IT specialist school and so all pupils are offered the opportunity to audition for music lesson and she sailed through her audition, even though she had never held a real guitar in her life. Now 8 months on, she has become quite adept and the sound of the guitar being played is the norm, as she puts in the practice required by her teacher, in readiness for her grade 1 exam.
It was remarkably easy to shape
So when it came time to design and make a birthday cake for her, there really was only one idea in the running, a guitar-shaped cake, and I didn’t share my thoughts with her because I wanted the finished cake to be a complete surprise.
Mini chocolate fingers made perfect tuning pegs but the strawberry laces were a tad bright
To make the cake itself, I baked a square rich chocolate sponge cake and a rectangular coffee sponge, using a Victorian Sponge recipe for both. Next I drew a template for the main body of the cake and then cut the sponge into shape before slicing it in half and filling it with coffee butter icing. The neck of the guitar only need to be shaped at the end and was also sandwiched with coffee butter icing. I gouged out a section of the guitar body to replicate the sound box area and then the whole thing was covered in a smooth chocolate butter icing, with strawberry laces for the guitar strings and mini chocolate fingers for the tuning pegs and bridge.
I have to say that I was pretty pleased with the finished cake and Middle Mudlets face was an absolute delight when she saw it for the first time, declaring it the best birthday cake I had ever made her which, when you consider past creations have included a Lego 8 brick and a pretty impressive pirate ship, is no small achievement in my opinion ….. oh and it tasted pretty good too!
