Jasper's 1st Birthday Cake

Janelle's gorgeous little man Jasper is turning one so she asked me to make him a cake. The brief was to make a cake to feed 25...but hubby wanted lots of leftovers so I made it a lot bigger than I usually would.

This cake was made up of a vanilla bean cake on the top two layers and a chocolate cake on the bottom two layers. Because I was doing double batches of mix in each tin I used a flower nail (a tool used for forming icing flowers). This helps to ensure that the middle of the cake cooks evenly.

Once you've poured the mixture into the tin, sit the flower nail with the flat end on the bottom of the tin.

Once the cake is cooked, flip it over and gently remove the flower nail.

This cake was torted and coated with vanilla buttercream. I feel it's essential to do a crumb coat, particularly if you're working with a dark cake and light coloured buttercream. Allow the crumb coat to sit for 15 minutes so that it has crusted (I only use crusting buttercream, so this obviously doesn't apply to non-crusting ones like Italian or Swiss meringue).

Apply a second layer and use a bench scraper to smooth the icing.

Again, allow the cake to sit out for 15 minutes to allow the new coat of icing to crust. Check it has crusted by gently touching it with your finger. If it lifts, allow the icing to sit for a few minutes longer. If not, smooth the icing by laying a piece of non-stick baking paper on the cake and going over it very gently with a fondant smoother.

Janelle had Jasper's invitations made by the beautiful Ivy (you may remember her wedding cupcakes from earlier this year) who owns Jump Cactus Design. The idea was to base the cake on the cute invite Ivy created.

I made the two rabbit characters along with a number '1' out of fondant with gum tragacanth added. I used the circles on the invite as a border along the bottom of the cake.

Happy birthday, little guy!