Beach hut cake - recipe

Grease and line a 10 ince square or 10×8 rectangular cake tin with baking parchment and preheat your oven to 150°C (130°C fan, gas mark 2).

Cream together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy then add the vanilla extract and continue to mix.

In another bowl measure the flour and baking powder.

Whisk all the eggs and gradually beat into the sugar and butter mixture. Add a tablespoon of flour at a time to prevent the mixture from curdling then fold in the remaining flour mix with the water.

Spread the mixture in the cake tin and bake for 1hour 30  minutes. Check to see if the cake is done by pressing a finger gently on the top. If it bounces back it is ready, if not it will leave an indent and needs a little longer.

When cool cut the cake into an 8×10 rectangle and  cut the top corners off edges off to create the triangular roof shape.

To make the buttercream, beat softened butter with the icing sugar, until light and creamy, adding 1 tsp hot water if necessary. Cover the cake all over with a tin layer of buttercream.

To ice the 10×14 inch cake board, roll out some blue sugar paste icing so that is it thick, around 5mm. Dampen the cake board then cover the top half with the icing.

To make the clouds, use white sugar paste icing to make 8-10 small balls. Dampen each ball underneath and then position 5 balls together on the right hand side of the blue sky. Ensure that you position the clouds so that they will not be hidden by the beach hut.  Press the balls down so that they are flat and overlap. There should be no blue showing from behind the balls.

Repeat with the remainder of the white balls on the left hand side of the sky. Take a rolling pin and flatten the clouds into the sky till the whole surface is smooth. Use a pizza wheel to cut a straight line across the bottom of the sky where it will meet the sand and remove the excess icing from around the board.

To make the sand base, roll out enough yellow sugar paste icing to cover the rest of the board. Use a pizza wheel to cut a straight line across the top edge. Dampen the cake board and along the bottom of the blue sky sugar paste icing and position the yellow icing on the board. Ensure that there are no gaps where the two colours meet. Use a smoother to flatten the surface and cut off the excess icing from the board.

Take a large handful of Rice Krispies and crush them until they become crumbs. Dampen the yellow icing sugar with cooled boiled water. (Don’t let the surface get too wet.) Sprinkle the crushed Rice Krispies over the whole area. Use a pastry brush to remove any excess crumbs. Leave to dry overnight.

To create the hut, cover the cake with a pale blue sugar paste icing. Keep the icing quite thick (5mm) so it can withstand being indented as part of the design. To create the lines, use the edge of a decorator’s ruler. Start at the bottom by pressing the edge of the ruler into the bottom of the beach hut. Move up in intervals of around 1cm until you reach the top of the cake. Be sure to press firmly as the icing will have a tendency to bounce back again.

For the roof edge, cut two thick strips of matching blue icing that are as long as the roof and around 2cm wide. Dampen with a little water and position on the top of the beach hut’s roof. Cut a diamond shape to cover the joint at the very top of the cake/roof.

For the door, cut out a white rectangle from the sugar icing that is just short of half way up the cake. Add a blue window and a small ball for a door knob. Use piped royal icing to decorate the age of the birthday recipient in the window. To make the rubber ring, roll out a white sausage of icing and add four very thinly rolled strips of red icing at even intervals. Roll so that they are perfectly smooth. It should be no longer than 15cm, cut to size and position in a circle. Dampen and add to the top of the beach hut’s roof.

To make the bunting, cut out pretty pastel coloured triangles. Dampen the top edge of each triangle with water and starting at the top of the beach hut form a row of flags. Once they are all in place lift up the tips of the bunting so that they look like they are blowing in the wind. If they drop back again, place a small rolled up piece of cling film under the tips and leave to dry for a few hours. When you remove the cling film they will stay in place.

Use royal icing to pipe the name and message to the bottom of the cake board. To finish, model a bucket and spade from icing and position to the side of the beach hut. Place some Krispies in the bucket and on the spade.