A Hedgehog Cake

by

HedehogsBabies1

Before you start wondering, no hedgehogs were harmed!

For my birthday I always make myself a special cake, and since hedgehogs have been on my mind a lot recently it seemed only logical to finally try out my hemisphere cake pan this time round…

HedgehogCake1

Cute! It was a lot simpler than I had thought – and it tasted pretty good too!

Hedgehog Birthday Cake

For the cake:

  • one 15cm/6 inch hemisphere tin and one 20cm/8 inch sandwich cake tin, greased and floured
  • 225g (2 sticks)  softened butter
  • 225g (1 cup) sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 215g (1 3/4 cups) SR flour
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 2-3 tbsps milk

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F. Cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer until pale and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Gently fold in the sieved flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Add the milk if necessary to achieve a “dropping consistency”, i.e. the mixture drops slowly off a spoon. Divide between the two cake tins and bake until firm to touch: the sandwich tin will take about 20-25 minutes and the hemisphere tin will take longer, between 35 and 45 minutes. Leave to cool completely on a rack.

For the buttercream/decoration:

  • 125g softened butter
  • 125g icing sugar
  • 75g milk chocolate, melted
  • 2 chocolate drops for the eyes
  • 1 glace cherry for the nose
  • jam for the filling (I used strawberry)

Beat together the butter and sugar. Reserve enough to cover the nose of the hedgehog. Dip the glace cherry in your melted chocolate and put to one side. Now beat the remaining melted chocolate into the rest of the buttercream. (Make sure the chocolate is cooled but not cold when you mix it in).

Forming the cake: Place the hemisphere on top of the sponge base layer, but at the back edge and not in the centre. Cut the base around the edge of the hemisphere at the sides but leave some at the front to form the nose… I think it will be clear what I mean when you have it in front of you. Put some jam between the base and the hemisphere to stick it together. Spread some white buttercream you reserved over the front and form a nose shape, building it up a little. Use a knife dipped in warm water to help smooth it. Then coat the hemisphere with the chocolate buttercream and use a flat knife to create the “spike” effect. Add the eyes and nose. Voila!

HedgehogCake2

This moist sponge cake stays lovely and fresh for several days – just store in an airtight container. It serves a crowd too!

Enjoy!

HedgehogCake3

🙂

 

 

73 thoughts on “A Hedgehog Cake”

    • Thank you Christina. I bet the hedgehogs would have loved a piece of the cake, but they seem quite happy with what they get every night! (Dog food and banana at the moment!)

      Reply

  24. Happy birthday, Cathy! Oh my goodness that cake is adorable. It looks delicious, too. What a clever idea. I loved seeing the baby hedgehogs in your earlier posts. You are a woman after my own heart.

    Reply

  26. What an adorable cake! It’s really so cute…as is your little garden friend. 🙂 I hope you had a wonderful birthday, Cathy. I love the idea of making yourself a special cake. What a great idea!

    Reply

  29. Oh it’s SO cute! I don’t think I could bring myself to eat it … except I would because it also looks delicious 😉 I hope you had a lovely birthday too? Many happy returns!

    Reply

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