PIRATE SHIP CAKE

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1 - Prepare and bake the chocolate cake

Grease and prepare the cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180C. Cream together the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, a little at a time until fully incorporated. Fold in the flour. Stir the melted chocolate. Spoon half the mixture into the tin, leaving the other half in the fridge until you are ready to bake the second cake. Bake for 50 minutes or until the top springs back to the touch and the edges pull away from the sides of the tin.

Step 2 - Making the Chocolate Buttercream

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Melt the chocolate and stir in. For all your modelled shapes, make sure that you add some Gum Tex powder to the fondant paste - you need to add about 1/2 a teaspoon of powder to 250g of fondant. Knead it in and then leave it to rest for at least 30 minutes. Set your tin up and fill. For the Pirate ship you will need to bake 2 cakes exactly the same - so once one is baked, turn it out onto a wire rack and bake your second cake. Trim the top section to create a point on both pieces of cake. This will be the front of your Pirate ship. Cut one layer of the cake so that you are just left with the top point. Position on top of the base layer. Cut the remaining section of cake by following the squares. Build up your ship and stagger the back slightly to give more of a curve to the shape.

Start to build up with buttercream then cover completely with buttercream frosting. Leave to chill for at least 30mins before icing. Once you've iced your cake, mark some woodgrain by using a ruler and veining tool. For the sea, make individual teaprops and then flattern them slightly on your bench surface. Use the veining tool to mark some lines, then curl up the tail end to look like a wave. Attach to the side of your ship with a little Dab N Hold edible glue. To make the top barrier cut a sausage of pale brown modelling paste into mini logs. Leave it to set for at least an hour, then top with a long sausage along the edge. Make some portholes by cutting some rings with two different circle cutters. Fill the middle of your porthole with a little black paste and attach to the side your ship. Use the jewellery mould to create all sorts of shapes and ropes.

All Pirate ships need a resident Parrot. Plus add an anchor and some ropes by using the nautical mould. Add a birthday 'scroll' by using the plaque cutters and edible pens. Add some creatures of the deep by modelling some Sharks and an Octopus! Pirates love treasure! Make some by rolling out some golden paste and cut little coins by using the end of a round piping tip. Make a treasure sack out of a little bit of black paste, rolled into a teardrop, and opened and the narrow end with a ball tool. All pirate ships need a 'Plank'. Make from a strip of modelling paste, leave to dry overnight and attach into position. Add some cannons and cannonballs! Roll sausages of black paste and indent one end with a ball tool. Smooth out with a smoother and attach into position. And then you are done...one Pirate ship perfect for any party!