Birthday Cake

Yesterday was my flatmate's birthday, and a cake had to be made. After some considerable rhumination as to the form the cake would take, we decided on a Sebastian crab (as in The Little Mermaid), this being the name of said flatmate.

A chocolate cake it had to be, and as this boy is Swiss and knows a thing or two about how chocolate should taste, it had to be an exemplary chocolate cake, whilst on the exterior resembling a Disney character as closely as possible. Ambitious? Not at all.

It turned out better than we could possibly have hoped for, as I'm sure you can see....

300g sr flour, sugar, butter

6 eggs (free-range and organic, natch)

good cocoa - NOT drinking chocolate

good quality milk or dark chocolate, or a mixture of both

a knob of cold, unsalted butter

500g icing sugar

250 slightly softened unsalted butter

food colouring (red and orange for a crab) - pastes are better than liquids and generally less messy!

writing icing, candles, decorations etc - any manner of beautiful things!

Make the sponge mixture by creaming together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, you know the drill, then gradually sift in the flour, cracking in an egg here and there, until you have a light and perfect sponge batter. Sift and fold in some cocoa - enough for a pale-ish brown colour, which will darken whilst baking.

Divide the mixture between two buttered round cake tins (or your tin of choice), and bake the sponges at 180C for around 20 mins. Test by inserting a sharp knife; if it comes out completely clean, and the sponge is bouncy to the touch, it is ready. If they need a little longer but are over-darkening on the outside, cover them with some tin foil until they're ready.

Meanwhile, make up the buttercream - you will be surprised how much icing sugar the butter will take, so persevere if it seems a lot at first - go gradually. Add food colouring to get the desired effect.

To make the chocolate ganache for the middle, melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave (no need whatsoever to bother with bowls and pans of simmering water) and then, once cooled slightly - but still warm enough to melt butter - add in enough butter for it to thicken a bit and go glossy: you judge how much to use.

Take the sponges out of the oven and the tins and let them cool on a wire rack. Then, when everything has cooled, get creative. We crafted the crab by cutting a smaller disc out of one of the sponges and sticking it on top of the other with the ganache, to make a dome shape once smothered with the vivid red buttercream. To make the buttercream really smooth, heat a palette knife of large metal spoon under the hot tap, then use it to glide over the top of the icing, reheating several times, until everything is glossy and beautiful.

With the left-over sponge, we make claw shapes and some little legs, which we outlined in black writing icing. We also put little black dots for the eyes, surrounded by whites of course, and drew a smiley mouth. It is scantly possible that someone out there is a little more creative than we are, in which case there is no need to follow our masterclass on cake decorating. Let your imagination know no bounds!!

Incidentally, I would love any cake decorating ideas - I may cook but I'm no artist.

In any case, the cake was much appreciated by Seb, and my other flatmate and I have felt like true domestic goddesses all day; a priceless feeling let me tell you.