Snakey Birthday Cakey

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 04:59:59 GMT

Step 1

Heat the oven to 350F

Step 2

For the sponge, pour the boiling water into a pitcher, add the chocolate, and stir to melt. Then, stir in the baking soda.

Step 3

Beat the butter, sugar, condensed milk, orange oil, and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed for 1 minute, until smooth. With the mixer still running, add the glycerin and eggs, and mix until well combined.

Step 4

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cocoa, and salt. With the mixer on medium speed, add half the flour mixture and mix until combined, then add the watery chocolate mixture, then the remaining flour mixture and combine for 1 to 2 minutes to a smooth batter.

Step 5

Fill two cupcake liners three-quarters full, then divide the remaining batter evenly between two 9 inch springboard pans. Bake the cupcakes for 25 to 30 minutes and the cakes for 40 to 45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 6

For the fondant icing, pour the cold water until a small bowl, then sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let rest for 3 minutes, until bloomed.

Step 7

In a small pot, simmer the glucose for 30 seconds, then add the gelatin and glycerin, stirring until dissolved. Tip the confectioners' sugar into a bowl and pour in the glucose mixture. Mix with a spatula, then bring everything together with your hands and kneed it gently to a smooth fondant. Wrap the icing in plastic wrap and set aside.

Step 8

For the chocolate meringue buttercream, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water. Stir, then remove from the heat and let cool.

Step 9

Place the egg whites and sugar in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk to a thick, glossy meringue. Whisk in the cooled, melted chocolate, then add the butter, little by little, and whisk to a smooth, fluffy buttercream. Spoon half the mixture into a piping bag and set aside.

Step 10

To assemble, carve the round cakes to become the main body of the snake, sitting one on top of the other. Using a 2 inch round cutter, cut out the center of the cake, leaving a hole in the middle. Sandwich the cakes together with some of the buttercream in the bowl, then cover the cake in a crumb coat and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Step 11

Hollow out the two cupcakes and fill them with snake gummies. Stick them together with some of the buttercream in a bowl, then carve them together with some of the buttercream in the bowl, then carve them to make an egg shape. Cover in a thin layer of buttercream to create a crumb coat and chill for 20 minutes.

Step 12

For the crisped-rise sculpture, place the butter and marshmallows in a pot over low heat, stirring until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the crisped rice and mix until coated. Chill to a molding consistency, about 30 minutes.

Step 13

Once moldable, wet your hands and use some of the crisped rice to shape a little tail that sticks up, and the remainder to create a head shape that fits on the top of the cake. Place the pieces on a plate and chill.

Step 14

Remove the cake from the fridge and use a skewer to secure the tail to the bottom end of the snake shape, then pipe the buttercream all over the cake. Smooth over with an offset spatula and chill again for 20 minutes.

Step 15

While the cake is chilling, color two-thirds of the fondant light green. On a surface lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar, roll out two-thirds of the green fondant to a large circle, big enough to cover the cake, reserving the remaining green fondant for the head.

Step 16

Carefully cover the cake with the circle of green fondant, molding it between the two cakes to form the coils. Using a cake-decorating paintbrush with some watered down food coloring, paint along the creases of the snake coils to make a shadow.

Step 17

Roll out half the remaining white fondant and use this to cover the cupcake egg. Using the white fondant trimmings, shape the snake's teeth - mold them around the tips of a few skewers and pinch the end to create the points.

Step 18

Roll out the remaining green fondant and use this to cover the snake's head.

Step 19

Color half the remaining white fondant dark green and the other half red, reserving a marble-sized piece of white fondant to color yellow.

Step 20

Roll out the dark green fondant and cut out pieces for around the eyes and for the collar. Make two eyes out of a little bit of red and yellow fondant and stick them in place with water, then add the green pieces around the eyes.

Step 21

Roll out the remaining red fondant and use this to line the inside of the mouth, reserving a little to make the tongue. Insert skewers halfway into the back of the head and attach the head to the main cake, then use water to stick on the fondant collar pieces to hide the seam.

Step 22

Insert the teeth into the snake's head, then make a red tongue with the reserved red fondant and stick it in the mouth. Fill the inside of the cake with the remaining buttercream and place the eggs on top.

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