Number Birthday Cake

Continuing out series of Kid Cake Ideas, this Number Birthday Cake, made by Mum, Mary Kate, is sure to be a winner with your boy or girl!

I made this using a 'loaf cake' mixture but you could just as easily do it using a maderia (or any other) cake that you can buy in any supermarket.

Ingredients 

• 125 g soft margarine (I used butter)
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons of milk
• 125g self-raising flour
• 50g plain flour

Ingredients for Butter Icing

• 50g butter (room temp)
• 125g icing sugar
• 1teaspoon milk

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy using a wooden spoon or electric mixer. Lightly beat the eggs with the milk in a separate bowl. Mix the flours together and gradually fold into the creamed mixture, alternating with the egg and milk mixture. Continue mixing until smooth.
2. Spoon the mixture into a tin lined with a large piece of non stick baking paper snipped into the corners so that the base and sides are lined (I greased the tin before I did this). Level the top of the mixture with a (palette) knife/spatula.
3. Bake in a preheated oven at 160c/gas 3 for 45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out cleanly.

{Variations: add 1 tsp vanilla essence/add the grated rind of half a medium orange and half a lemon/substitute 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder for the same quantity of plain flour}

Butter Icing Method 

Beat all together; for variations you can also ad .5 tsp vanilla essence/2 tsp citrus rind plus the juice instead of milk/1 stp cocoa powder dissolved in 1 tablesp water

Making the number

1. You can use any type of baking tin, it just depends on what number you are making.  Obviously, round ones are better for some of the numbers, but you could always do a 'square' shaped number if all you have is square or rectangle shaped tins!
2. As with other cakes I've made, I have found that it doesn't really matter what the cake looks like, as long as it's covered in sweets!  All the decorations were e-number free as they came from M&S and/or the Natural Sweet company, both of which do a great range of sweets that are free from artificial colourings and flavourings.

Cake idea adapted from "30-minute kids' cakes" by Sara Lewis published by Bounty Books

Related : Lots more Birthday Cake ideas here