Pretty princess cake

Pull out all the stops with this sensational celebration cake, a princess doll enrobed in pretty pink and white icing – perfect for a special birthday party

  • Prep:2 hrs
    Cook:1 hrs 50 mins
  • Serves 25
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 662
  • fat 27.7g
  • saturates 16.6g
  • carbs 99.6g
  • sugars 79.8g
  • fibre 1.1g
  • protein 6.1g
  • salt 0.3g

Ingredients

  • 500g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 500g caster sugar
  • seeds scraped from 2 vanilla pods or 2 tsp vanilla paste
  • 10 large eggs, cracked into a jug
  • 170g plain flour
  • 200g full-fat Greek yogurt
  • 500g self-raising flour
  • 250g unsalted butter, softened
  • 500g icing sugar, sieved
  • 400g white ready-to-roll icing
  • 500g pink ready-to-roll icing
  • edible lustre spray in pink or pearl
  • 8 small icing roses
  • 1 large icing rose
  • 1 mini sugar butterfly
  • 250g royal icing sugar
  • 1 pink cake board
  • 1 Barbie-style doll

Tip

Decorating your princess cake

Sugar decorations are available from all the large supermarkets. If you can't find sugar butterflies and roses you can use silver balls and pretty sweets instead.

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a deep 15cm round cake tin, making sure the lining is higher than the top of the tin. Grease and base line a 1 litre ovenproof glass pudding basin.

  2. Using electric beaters or a tabletop mixer, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and ¼ tsp salt together until pale and fluffy, then pour in the eggs, one at a time, giving the mix a really good beating before adding the next. Add 1 tbsp of the plain flour if the mix starts to look slimy rather than fluffy. Beat in the yogurt.

  3. Mix the flours; then, using a large metal spoon, fold them into the batter, and spoon into the prepared tin and bowl. The mixture will come almost to the top. Place the bowl and cake tin on a baking tray. Cook in the oven for about 1 hour 40 to 1hour 50 mins. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

  4. To make the butter icing, put the butter into a bowl and beat well until softened. Gradually beat in the icing sugar. Trim the tops of the cakes level. Slice the pudding basin cake in three and the 15cm cake in half. Using a 5cm round cutter, stamp out the centre of each piece of cake.

  5. Place one half of the 15cm cake on a cake board. Spread with a little butter icing and place the other half on top. Spread a little icing on this layer and top with the widest layer of the basin cake. Repeat with the other layers. Spread the remaining butter icing all over the assembled cake.

  6. Take 250g white fondant icing and roll out into a long strip about 7cm wide. Press the edge gently with a teaspoon to give a frilled effect or use a ball tool. Attach to the base of the cake, pushing gently onto the icing.

  7. Roll out the pink icing to a large circle about 36cm in diameter. Cut a hole from the centre using the 5cm cutter. Cut away just under an eighth section of the icing. Drape the icing over the cake, making the join at the back. At even intervals push up the pink fondant to create a swagged look.

  8. Spray the cake lightly with the edible lustre. Take the doll and wrap the legs in plastic film. Place the doll in the cake. The top of the cake should come to hip not waist level. Using the trimmings, roll out an oblong of pink icing and wrap around the body of the doll to make the bodice. Smooth the bottom of the bodice onto the top of the skirt.

  9. Roll out some white fondant and cut out a 9cm circle using a fluted or flower cutter. Cut a small circle from the centre of this and then split one side and place around the waist of the doll, cutting away any excess. Use the remaining white icing to make a large bow and place at the back of the dolls waist.

  10. Make up the royal icing according to pack instructions. Using a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle (or use a strong plastic bag and cut off the tip), pipe around the edge of the pink skirt. Attach a rose to the top of each swag. Pipe three lines of dots just above the roses going up the dress.

  11. Pipe across the top of the bodice and half way down the front. Using the icing attach a sugar butterfly to the top of the bodice and one large sugar rose at the waist.

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