112 AWW FOOD • ISSUE TWENTY-ONE
Kids’ Party
BAT CAVE
PREP + COOK TIME 3 HOURS
The cave is made up of three cakes,
so while it may look fiddly and
complicated, it isn’t. The kids’ll think
you used magic to make it.
5 x 340g packets chocolate cake mix
¼ cup (25g) cocoa powder
brown food colouring
30cm x 40cm prepared board
BLACK GLACÉ ICING
1 cup (160g) icing sugar
1 tablespoon water
black food colouring
BUTTER CREAM
375g butter, softened
4½ cups (720g) icing sugar
½ cup (125ml) milk
DECORATIONS
2 tablespoons shredded coconut
green, brown and black food colouring
spearmint leaves
green jelly snakes
3 bamboo skewers
2 toothpicks
fruit bat jellies
yellow jelly snake
red jelly snake
red and yellow boiled lollies
50g Toblerone chocolate bar
80g milk chocolate sultanas
1 Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan.
Grease and line a deep 23cm square
cake pan and 20cm x 30cm lamington
pan; grease a 1.75−litre (7−cup)
pudding steamer.
2 Make two of the packet cakes
according to directions on packets;
pour into square cake pan. Make
remaining packet cakes; pour 4½
cups of mixture into pudding steamer
pour remaining mixture into
lamington pan. Bake square cake for
1¼ hours; bake cake in steamer for
50 minutes and cake in lamington
pan for 40 minutes. Stand cakes for
10 minutes before turning onto wire
racks to cool.
3 Using a serrated knife level tops
of all cakes.
4 Using picture on page 78 as a
guide cut wall from square cake and
cut base from rectangular cake. Carve
out mouth of cave from pudding cake.
5 Make the black glacé icing and
butter cream.
6 Pour black glacé icing into cave.
Turn cake to evenly coat inside of
cave. Stand until set.
7 Beat sifted cocoa and brown
colouring into butter cream. Place
base cut−side down on prepared
board; spread with butter cream.
Spread butter cream all over wall
cake; stand wall behind base so that
the wall is positioned to one end of
the base.
8 Slice back of pudding cake (cave)
so it will fit flat against the wall.
Spread butter cream all over outside
of cave; position on top of base
against the wall. Smooth butter cream
to cover any joins.
9 Combine coconut with green
colouring in a small plastic bag rub
together until coconut is coloured;
sprinkle over cake where you are
going to place the vines. Position
green snakes and spearmint leaves to
resemble vines.
10 Dab a drop of brown colouring
onto absorbent paper wipe along
length of bamboo skewers and
toothpicks to colour.
11 Push skewers and toothpicks into
bat lollies. Using a small paintbrush
paint front of bat lollies with black
food colouring; position in and
around cave to suggest flying bats.
12 Using picture as a guide decorate
cake with remaining lollies to
complete bat cave.BLACK GLACÉ ICING
Sift icing sugar into a small heatproof
bowl; stir in the water and colouring.
Stir over small saucepan of simmering
water until icing is spreadable.BUTTER CREAM
Beat butter in a large bowl with an
electric mixer until as white as
possible. Gradually beat in half the
sifted icing sugar milk then
remaining icing sugar.COOK’S
NOTES
Cut away some of the
front of the cake to form
a cave mouth; pour black
glacé icing inside to coat
cave mouth.Cooked cakes can
be frozen for up to 1
month. Thaw at room
temperature for 6 hours.Cake can be iced
and decorated 1 day
ahead (except for the
bats); keep, covered,
in refrigerator if the
weather is hot.