LION CAKE

This is such a cute birthday cake for kids of any age.
If you have a child who has to follow a gluten free diet, its great to have a few stand by recipes so that on occasions such as birthdays, everyone can enjoy a piece of cake & no one has to miss out.
Everyone loved him looks wise & taste wise, and honestly he was so easy to make - you don't need to be particularly artistic or creative.

Cake ingredients

200g free by doves farm gluten free self raising flour or similar
150g sunflower spread
150g caster sugar
1 dessert spoon golden syrup
teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
teaspoon baking powder

FOR THE DECORATION
75g white chocolate
red food coloring

black or chocolate writing icing ( you can buy these ready to use)

FOR THE ICINGS/ FROSTINGS

BUTTERCREAM MANE
125g unsalted butter (leave to soften at room temperature whilst you're making the cake)
185g icing sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

ICING FOR FACE & EARS
125g icing sugar
2 tablespoons of water.
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 180c .You want a cupcake baking tray and a cake tin (about 19cm/ 20cm in diameter.) I use a cake tin with a loose base- makes it so much easier to turn out. Silicone baking moulds are also great for easy to turn out cakes.

1. Put all of the cake ingredients into a blender & blitz until you get a nice smooth cake batter.  Grease & fill 2 cupcake holes in the cupcake baking tray, (This is for the ears), then pour the rest of the mix into the cake tin. (I line the bottom of the cake tin with greaseproof/ baking paper, and then grease the sides with a little light olive oil or butter. I greased the two holes in the cupcake baking tray the same way.

2. Put the cake on a shelf in the middle of the oven, and the cupcakes on the shelf below.
The cupcakes will take about 25 mins and the main cake around 40/45 mins.
With the cupcakes, you will know when they are done as they will be golden brown and firm and springy to the touch.
For the main cake, you can stick a skewer in the centre and if it comes out clean, then the cake is done.

3 Whilst the cake is cooking the next step is to make the white chocolate ears and eyes.
Break the white chocolate up into small pieces and put in a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Remove the bowl and make 4 white discs (for the eyes) by simply spooning onto a sheet of grease proof/ baking paper (as shown below).
 For the remaining white chocolate, add a few drops of red food colouring, mix into the melted chocolate and make 4 pink discs (for the ears).
You only need 2 discs for the ears and 2 for the eyes, but its good to have some choice for the best ones! The great thing about this method is that when the chocolate discs have set they are so easy to shape using a small pair of scissors. Its such a useful tip for making any kind of chocolate shapes for cake decoration.
Leave in the fridge to set.

4 Once the cake is cooked it needs to cool. Remove from the cake tin & leave to cool on a wire rack if you have one. Once cool, cut 2 ear shapes from your cupcakes & place on the cake as shown above.

5. For the face & ears mix the icing sugar with the warm water & cocoa powder. You may need a little more water to make it spreadable....add it tiny bit by tiny bit until you get the right consistency.
Spread over the top of the cake and over the ears.

6. Mix the buttercream ingredients together. (If it's too thick, you may need to add a spoonful of water.)

7. Spread the buttercream around the sides of the cake, coming up round the edges, with the buttercream as you can see in the main picture (using a fork to get the right effect for the mane.)

8. Place the white chocolate eyes and pink ears in place.

 9. Using your writing icing, make black dots for the eyes, make the nose and whiskers as shown. Voila - a lion - and a pretty tasty one at that!

 NB If you have coeliac disease please make sure that any icing/ cake decorations you use are suitable for a gluten free diet. and as always, if in doubt, leave it out :)