Number 5 Birthday Cake Recipe

This foolproof recipe will help you create a deliciously moist number 5 birthday cake that is ready to decorate with your beautiful designs.

Ingredients for 1 x 20cm round cake

225g/8oz butter or margarine, softened at room temperature
225g/8oz caster sugar
4 medium eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
225g/8oz self raising flour
milk, to loosen

Ingredients for 1 x 20cm square cake

225g/8oz butter or margarine, softened at room temperature
225g/8oz caster sugar
4 medium eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
225g/8oz self raising flour
milk, to loosen

Preparation method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line a cake tin with baking paper. Cream the butter and the sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, and stir in the vanilla extract. Fold in the flour using a large metal spoon, adding a little extra milk if necessary, to create a batter with a soft dropping consistency. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and peel off the paper. Place onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before decorating.

Chocolate ganache:

In a large bowl , either in a bain-marie or in the microwave melt the chocolate. If using a microwave, melt in short bursts at medium – low power, stirring regularly, as chocolate burns very easily. You will find the chocolate will melt at a temperature which feels barely warm to the touch. Boil the cream, either in a pan or a microwaveable jug. Slowly pour the cream over the melted chocolate, stirring all the time to combine. Allow the ganache to cool. Usually I leave it to stand overnight before using.

Next day firstly warm ganache very slightly to soften it. Using electric mixer beat on a fast speed until ganache is soft and paler colour. Before you begin covering your cakes, assemble your baked cakes. Using a round cutter, cut a circle out of the centre of your round cake and slice away a quarter of the ring that is left. Cut 2 strips of your square cake. Line one up next to the top of the circle, vertically, then place the second slightly shorter strip coming off the top edge of the vertical strip, horizontally.  Place each cake on a large square of greaseproof paper on a cake board. Stick your cake sections together using s light smear or ganache to make it easier to work with. You can do a final trim, using a large sharp knife to ensure that the cake is completely even with no bumps or ridges where the two cakes meet.

Spread a layer of ganache on top of your bottom cake and top with a layer of raspberry jam. Sandwich on your assembled second sponge and spread another layer of ganache over the top of your cake. When you are happy with the thickness of the ganache around the sides, use your palette knife to layer a similar thickness over the top of the assembled cake. Smooth across the cake and wipe any excess on the palette knife back into the ganache bowl. Now refrigerate the cake until you are ready to cover it.

Warm the ganache stirring frequently, until it is at a pouring consistency and simply pour over your cake to cover.

When the ganache is cooled and set, prepare your cake topper. Using scissors cut out the desired size and shape and using a little of edible glue or used ganache stick it on the top of your cake. You also can stick the cake topper by piping with royal icing or left ganache. You will be amazed at what you can achieve very quickly. We decorated our cake with bespoke edible icing.