Kids’ Party
AB123
SWAMP CAKE
PREP + COOK TIME 2½ HOURS
(+ STANDING & REFRIGERATION)
CAKE
3 x 340g packets buttercake mix
85gpacket purple jelly crystals
85g packet green jelly crystals
1 quantity Butter Cream (recipe, below)
green food colouring
DECORATIONS
fresh violet leaves
assorted toy swamp animals
green jelly snakes
milk chocolate sultanas
red and orange boiled lollies
30g Flake bar, halved
BUTTER CREAM
125g butter, softened
1½cups (240g) icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
CHOCOLATE LEAVES
150g white chocolate Melts, melted
25 fresh camellia leaves, approximately
1 To make cake, preheat oven to
180°C/160°C fan. Grease and line
a deep 26cm x 36cm baking dish.
2 Combine cake mixes; make
according to packet directions. Pour
into prepared dish; bake for 1 hour or
until a skewer inserted in the centre
comes out clean. Stand cake in the
pan for 20 minutes before turning
out onto a wire rack to cool.
3 Make jellies, separately, according
to directions on packets; pour enough
of the purple jelly into the green jelly
until it becomes a “swampy” green
colour. Refrigerate until set.
4 Meanwhile,make the butter cream
and chocolate leaves.
5 Using a serrated knife, level top of
cake. Turn cake, cut−side down. Cut a
free−form swamp shape from outside
edge ofcake, as pictured at left.
6 Positioncake, cut−side down, on
platter. Mark a rough outline on cake
for swamp water; hollow out area,
making it about 2cm deep.
7 Cover top and sides of cake with
butter cream, up to swamp−water line.
8 Using a whisk, break up jelly;
spoon into swamp hollow.
9 Position violet leaves on jelly, and
animals and snakes on and around cake.
10 Make campfire by using sultanas
and crushed boiled lollies. Position
Flake for logs near campfire.
11 Make a “no swimming” sign;
secure to a wooden skewer or
ice−block stick, position oncake.
12 Decorate side of cake with
chocolate leaves.BUTTER CREAM
Beat butter in a small bowl with
anelectric mixer until as white
as possible. Gradually beat in half
the sifted icing sugar, the milk,
then the remaining icing sugar.
Add enough green food colouring
to achieve desired swamp colour.CHOCOLATE LEAVES
ATint melted chocolate pale green
using the green colouring. Brush
chocolate onto back of clean, dry
camellia leaves.BWhen leaves have set (best at room
temperature), carefully peel leaves
away from the chocolate.COOK’S
NOTES
SWAMP CAKE
We used a round platter, 48cm
in diameter, for the cake.
Cooked cake can be frozen for
up to 1 month. Thaw at room
temperature for about 6 hours.
Cake can be baked and cut
into shape up to 1 day ahead;
keep, covered, in the fridge if
the weather is hot.
Finish the cake on
the day of serving.