Zebra Print Cake

One of my good friends recently turned 30 and to celebrate I decided to put together this bright, vibrant and funky cake to mark the special occasion  I've always loved the combination of pink and green and the zebra print tier sets this cake off nicely, giving it a really fun and girly feel. All off the decoration was done by layering different shapes and colours of fondant including the fondant bow on top. The cake is made up of two tiers, the bottom tier a 9 inch square cake, topped with a 6 inch cake. Again I opted for a simple lemon Madeira base and sandwiched the cakes together using a delicious zesty lemon buttercream. The colours were achieved using Americolor gel food colourings, with the exception of the black which was bought pre-coloured from Decobake.

Ingredients (for a 9 inch square cake)
For the cake
450g sugar
450g butter
680g self-raising flour
8 eggs (beaten)
3 lemons (juice and zest)

For the lemon buttercream icing
240g butter
500g icing sugar
Juice and zest of 1 lemon

Method
For the cake
1. Beat together the sugar and butter until pale and creamy.
2. Add the beaten egg a little at a time.
3. Add the lemon juice and zest of 2 lemons and mix well.
4. Finally fold in the flour and mix gently until all the ingredients are combined.
5. Spoon the mixture into the lined tins and cook in the centre of the oven for 40-50 minutes at 
    180C. To check the cake is ready, dip a sharp knife into the centre of the cake and continue 
    to cook until the knife comes out clean.

For the icing

Mix all ingredients together using a handheld mixer until light and fluffy.

Assembly

Once the cakes have cooled slightly, using a sharp knife and cut each cake in half lengthways. Then spread the bottom half with buttercream before reassembling the cake and sandwiching the two halves back together. Then cover the outside of each cake with the remaining buttercream. Roll out the fondant to size and gently place over the cake, cutting away any excess icing.

E-D's Notes
- Knowing how much fondant to use can be very difficult at the best of times. Rolling fondant out 
  to the right size is an art in itself and I always use a ruler to measure the sides and top of the 
  cake to know the exact diameter or width I need to roll the dough out to.
- Below is a table of the cakes used in this recipe and how much fondant was required for the 
  basic covering (not the extra decorative pieces).

Shape	Height	Size	Amount of fondant needed
Square	3 inches	6 inches	600g
		9 inches	1200g

     





         Wilton also have a great page outlining different cake sizes and the amount of fondant  
  required for different shapes and sizes. Check it out here.