Ladybird cake for a 2 year old
So 2013 was the summer of the ladybirds in Ireland. They were everywhere! My almost 2 year old kept finding them in the garden and shouting LABY-DIRD LABY-DIRD.
It was a toss up between a train cake and a ladybird when it came to his birthday, I decided to go with the ladybird, as trains will probably be popular for many years to come.
Ingredients:
380g /12 oz. margarine
380g /12 oz. castor sugar
6 eggs, beaten
380g /12 oz. sieved self-rising flour
Food colouring if marbling cake
280g margarine
1-2 tblsp of water/soya or rice milk
Steps:
1. Grease and line a 9 inch cake tin with baking paper or greaseproof paper.
2. Grease a glass pyrex bowl and one hollow in a muffin tin.
3. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
4. Cream sugar and margarine until fluffy.
5. Add eggs a little at a time stirring continuously.
6. Add flour a little at a time and continue stirring.
9. Add a different food colouring to the other mixture until desired colour reached.
10. Using 2 similar sized spoons (one for each colour), put a spoon of one mixture into cake tin and bowl, then put a spoon of the other colour on top. Repeat this until all the mixture is used. Do not shake tin or mix at all.
To Make Buttercream:
- Beat the margarine until soft. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
- Add the rest of the icing sugar and one tablespoon of water and beat the mixture until creamy and smooth. Add more water/soya milk if necessary.
- Ice the cake using a palette knife or spatula.
To Make Fondant:
You can of course use ready to roll icing, but it is quite easy to make your own fondant. I used the recipe from All Recipes UK.
- Put the marshmallows in a bowl and put into microwave on high for 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of water. Grease a large spoon with margarine, stir the marshmallows and keep melting in 30 second intervals until marshmallows are smooth.
- Add red food colouring at this stage (I waited until after adding icing sugar but it was quite difficult to mix in as the mixture was very sticky).
- Add icing sugar a small bit at a time, stirring each time until it’s all mixed in.
- Grease your hands with margarine and knead on a greased surface until smooth.
- Roll out and drape over the cake.
To finish:
- Draw line down centre of ladybird’s back with butter knife.
- Place dairy free chocolate buttons on ladybird’s back for spots.
- Use a different colour fondant for the ladybird’s head.
- Put 2 jelly tots in for the ladybird’s eyes.
- Cut a length of black licorice or a black pipe cleaner in half and use for antennae.
Hi, I bought the choices Santa sack in holland and Barrett today in millfield shopping centre balbriggan. They have 20% off Xmas chocolates till Sunday. I also bought their own brand dairy free chocolate advent calendar.
Thanks so much Deirdre for letting us know. Still on the hunt here. :)