THE BEES KNEES STAR CAKE

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1 - Prepare cake batter following recipe instructions. Bake and cool three cake layers. Level fill and stack layers on cake circle for 6 in. high cake. Place cake on turntable.

Using icing smoother and creamy white icing, ice cake smooth. Using square-edged combing tool, comb cake.

Step 2 - Tint icing. Using Black icing colour, tint 1 cup chocolate icing black. Using Golden Yellow icing colour, tint 2 1/2cups white icing yellow. Set yellow icing aside for later step.

Prepare two decorating bags, separately, with black and white icing. Cut 1/2 in. off tip of bags. Starting at bottom, pipe black icing in every other indented line, for a total of 3 black lines. Using white icing, fill in remaining indented lines.

Using icing smoother, smooth icing.

Reserve remaining black and white icing.

Step 3 - Make bees. Prepare two decorating bags with couplers. Prepare one bag with reserved yellow icing and tip 16. Prepare second bag with black icing and tip 5. Prepare third decorating bag with tip 16. Fill with remaining white icing.

Using toothpick, draw bee shapes and honeycombs around sides of cake. For round bee heads, use large end of standard-sized tip to mark circle in icing.

Using black icing with tip 5, use dot technique to pipe bee heads. Switch to tip 16.

Using black icing with tip 16 and yellow icing with tip 16, pipe alternating stripes for bodies of bees. Using white icing with tip 16, use zigzag technique to pipe wings of bees. Reserve remaining yellow icing.

Switch black icing bag to tip 3 - pipe antennas. Switch yellow icing bag to tip 2 - pipe outline for honeycombs.

Step 4 - Decorate cake. Prepare decorating bag with tip 1M and remaining yellow icing. Pipe swirls around top edge of cake.