Tatty Ted, My first ever cake!

Tatty Ted, My First Attempt At Making A Cake

A few months ago, for some strange reason, I woke up and decided I was going to make a cake. I have no idea why I felt the need to do this, as it is not something I have ever really given much thought to, but there it was, this strong urge to create something out of food!

I had no idea exactly what kind of cake I was going to make, so I had a little think while I was drinking my coffee. 

Now, any normal person that has never made a cake in their life might have decided to go with a Victoria sponge or a chocolate cake, but me? No! By the time I had got to the bottom of my coffee cup I had set my mind on making a Tatty Ted cake, why? I have no idea! And not just any old Tatty Ted cake, but a 3D Tatty Ted cake!

So, off I went to the shops to buy all the ingredients, at this point I had no idea how I was going to make the cake so I was just kind of making it up in my head as I went along the baking isle in the supermarket, and then rushed home, excited to start my creation.

I decided to make a normal basic sponge mix for the bear, which worked OK, but once the cake was finished I realized I should of used something firmer for the body.

I baked four round cakes and a loaf cake.

Once the cakes were cool:

I stacked the round cakes on top of each other and spread butter cream in between each layer, I then started carving away at the top two layers to make them smaller and rounder (more head shaped) I also carved a small amount from the bottom two layers.

Looking back, I should of used better sized tins, but I was working with what I could find in the cupboard as I had already spent a fortune on ingredients.

I then stuck a lolly stick through the head and body to stop the head from falling off!

I took all the pieces of cake that I had carved off and put them in a bowl and mashed them up with butter cream until they were all sticking together, then with my hands, I molded arms and legs, I stuck these to the cake with some butter cream and held them in place with cocktail sticks.

Once I had the shape I wanted, I coloured the remaining butter cream with black food colouring until it turned grey and covered the whole cake in it. I then piped on the remaining butter cream using a nozzle that is usually used for grass on cupcakes. (It took forever, my arms were killing!)

I molded the ears and the nose from roll out icing and pinned them in place, then piped round them and added a few other details using roll out icing, like patches and stitching.

And finally, hours after starting, my cake was finished!

Looking at it now, there are so many things I would change if I made another one, and I am not happy with how out of proportion he is at the bottom, but at the time, considering it was the first cake I ever made, I was so pleased with my Tatty Ted cake.