Dog in Present Cake

You will need:

Approx 9" square cake.

Various colours sugar paste

Plastic teddy bear nose, or black sugar paste

25g Butter

100g Marshmallows

80g Rice Krispies

Small quantity chocolate butter icing/frosting

Cocktail sticks

Cake board

Ribbon and double sided tape (optional)

Firstly make a square sponge cake. Sandwich together with jam and butter icing. Decorate with contrasting colours of fondant icing to make it look like a present and place onto a cake board (use a little butter icing to secure the cake to the board). Cut some longish triangle shapes of icing the same colour as the 'wrapping paper'. Bend some of these into arch-like shapes and leave them to set into shape (these will be the 'ripped wrapping paper' where the dog's head is popping out of the present).

Melt 25g of butter in a large saucepan.

When fully melted, keep on a low heat and add the marshmallows. Keep stirring the mixture until the marshmallows have melted. Stir for another minute then remove from the heat.

Add the rice krispies and stir in thoroughly.

Rub some butter on your work surface. Empty the rice krispie mixture onto the work surface (use a spoon, as the mixture will be surprisingly hot at first).

Rub some butter onto your hands before moulding the mixture. Make a large ball and a small ball then stick them together. Add some small dollops where they join to smooth out the shape.

If you are using a teddy bear nose, stick it in now, before the mixture cools too much and sets hard.

Make some ears and eyes from fondant icing. Use oval shapes for the ears, bend one end around a straw and leave to harden in this shape.

Make a sausage shape of coloured fondant and curve into a circular shape, to represent the dog's collar, and sit the dog's head on top of this.

After the rice krispie head has set and the 'ears' are firm (preferably overnight), you are ready to decorate the dog's head.

Smooth chocolate butter icing in a thin layer all over the head.

Stick the eyes and ears into place.
Mould a thin length of black icing and stick in place for a mouth.

Roll out some light brown and dark brown fondant icing.

Cut it into thin strips approx 1cm wide.

Gently pick up a strip of icing and make approx 0.5cm snips along it with scissors so that it looks like a fringe.

Place a piece of the dark fringed icing around the dog's nose.

Continue with the light icing working from the bottom up . Don't worry too much about breakages and mistakes, as you layer each strip of icing you can disguise these.

When you get to the eyes, add some little strands of dark icing. Maybe a bit more around the nose.

Whenyou have covered the head with 'fur', place a couple of cocktail sticks into the bottom of the head and place it on top of the cake in the centre.

Place the previously cut triangles around the perimeter of the dog's collar. You'll probably need to use some water icing or edible glue to hold these in place.

Add a length of ribbon round the edge of the cake board using double sided tape.