Bonfire Night - Bonfire Cake

Aerial view

We were invited over to friends for Bonfire Night, we've been going for the last couple of years. I asked if there was anything I could contribute and this year I was asked to provide cake or dessert.
I've spent the last 10 days or so formulating what I thought was quite an original idea of making a cake with a bonfire on top, you've got to laugh, no sooner had I got my idea down on paper, than bonfire cakes started popping up all over the place, one on Junior Bake Off on the BBC and one from a friend on Facebook whose sons birthday was on 5 November!
Oh well, I decided to go ahead anyway and so Sunday morning was spent creating in the kitchen. I've made celebration cakes before, I'll do a blog about them soon.


Bonfire Cake


For the sponge


4 large eggs (weigh first, then beat)
Weigh the eggs in their shells and then measure out the same weight of butter or margarine, sugar, self raising flour (replace 60g of flour with cocoa powder for a chocolate sponge)
1 tsp vanilla essence
Pinch of salt (if you have used unsalted butter)

Grease 2 x 8" tins.

Make the sponge how you prefer - the creaming method, where you cream the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon, gradually beat in the eggs, then fold in the dry ingredients or the all in one, where you put everything into a mixer and beat until smooth.

Divide the mix between the 2 tins and bake in the oven at GM4/180C/350F for 25-30 minutes, until they are firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean. Turn the sponges onto a cooling rack and allow to cool.

Meanwhile make the butter cream. I used an awful lot for this cake (you can freeze any leftovers for up to 3 months, it will need beating before you use it). Put 260g butter, 500g icing sugar with two serving spoons of cocoa powder (I also added some melted dark chocolate which I had left over from making the spider cookies, but cocoa powder should be enough) into a food processor, then whizz together until smooth and it's ready to use.

Then it's really as simple as constructing the cake. I sandwiched the sponges together with butter cream, but if you want it to be less sickly use some jam. After sticking the 2 sponges together, coat the outside of the cake with the butter cream. Again, if you want it to be less sickly only cover the top.

Next I constructed my bonfire, I used a Cadbury's Flake pushed into the centre of the cake as the centrepiece of my bonfire. Then I arranged Matchmakers and sweet shoelaces around until it looked like a bonfire. Finally I sprinkled with orange and yellow sugar strands to look like embers. Obviously the possibilities are endless. There are an array of interesting sweets and cake decorations that could have helped to make a real masterpiece, I would have used some cake glitter and some different coloured shoelaces and if I'd had time would've loved to make a guy from royal icing.

It didn't matter though, as soon as the hot dogs were finished and I asked "Does anyone want a slice of cake?" it was demolished in 10 minutes flat, with just one generous piece left for Helen to have with a nice cup of tea!

The cake was moist and chocolately, but I personally thought there was too much butter cream, no one seemed to agree with me and I wished I'd not forgotten to put chocolate drops in the sponge  because they make it super nice. My advice is unless you have a really sweet tooth or a love of butter cream, halve the butter cream recipe and just cover the top.