Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake

This was my first attempt at a topsy turvy fondant covered cake.

I made a 23cm marble cake and two 20cm chocolate cakes. I sliced one of the smaller chocolate cakes diagonally and stuck it back together with fudge icing, big sides together. Then I stuck that to the other small cake, which had been levelled out. I sliced the marble cake diagonally and stuck it back together with fudge icing too, big sides together. This was my first mistake, a lesson for next time, I should definitely have done an extra cake so the bottom layer wasn't so flat. Then I cut a circular bit out of the middle so that the chocolate stack could sit flat.

I iced the big cake with green fondant and the little with red. After letting it harden a bit (it goes soft with all the kneading and rolling) i stacked them. This was lesson number two. I should have listened to all those professionals who said you need to use supports - we ended up with a very flat bottom layer!

I hid all the ugly joins with little balls (yes, I know the green ones look like peas!) and stuck windows over the less-than-perfect bits of red fondant. The lines on the windows & handy helper and the letters on the flowers were painted on using a cocktail stick with the point cut off at an angle and dipped in food colouring like a quill. The silly slide was solid icing which I stuck on with a little water - edges scored first which helped it stick. Again, I hid the join with balls. The flower stems were made by dipping a cocktail stick in water before rolling a small ball of icing round it - the water helped it stick. Finally, the Mickey Mouse head - made from all the left over icing! I tried dying the whole lot black but it just didn't work so, lesson number three - just paint it!

Ashleigh did love the cake, but her first comment was "Where's the door?!". It wasn't supposed to be a canon reproduction! Kid missed the point... Next time I'll just get this!

It was fun to do, and I know all the things I did wrong and how to do it better. I think I learnt a few good techniques. So, watch this space for Kid-number-two's morris dancing cake at the end of April!