Frog Cake

Ideally, prepare the frog and the lily pads a day in advance so they dry well.

To make the frog, mix 150 grams of modeling paste with holly green food coloring gel. Shape two large balls and thread a cocktail skewer through them to form the frog's head and body. Use the cutting wheel to create a wide mouth and the cocktail skewer to make two nostrils. Form two balls, roll them into an elongated shape, flatten one side, and cut the fingers. Attach these front legs to the frog's body with edible glue. Then make the back legs in the same way, but with slightly bigger balls. Attach them to the body with edible glue. Roll two small balls and flatten them to make the eyes. Make two smaller balls from a small piece of white fondant, flatten them and stick them onto the green eyes. Press a black sugar pearl into the eyeballs to finish them. Attach the eyes to the frog's head with edible glue.

For the lily pads, roll out the remaining green modeling paste thinly and cut leaves of different sizes with the rose leaf cutter. Use the cutting wheel to make a notch in the center then gently open it a bit. Leave to dry overnight on baking paper. Mix a small piece of white fondant with yellow food coloring gel. Roll it out thinly on a work surface dusted with Magic Roll-out powder and cut out flowers. Make two flowers of the same size per flower. Glue the two flowers together and let dry. Glue a small white fondant ball in the center of the flower. Tip! The flowers can easily be dried in an egg box or a similar shaped object to keep the leaves upright.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C for convection ovens).

Prepare 300 grams of FunCakes buttercream mix and 400 grams of FunCakes cake mix as per the package instructions. Grease the pans with Bake Release spray and divide the cake batter between the two pans. Bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes, then immediately turn them out onto a cooling rack after baking. Flavor the buttercream to your taste with a flavor paste.

Cut the cakes in half using the cake leveler. Fill and cover with buttercream. Smooth with the side scraper. Chill the cakes in the refrigerator for half an hour. Divide the remaining buttercream into four portions, color them with bright green, holly green, and aqua food gels to achieve two nice shades of green and blue. Use a spatula to spread the four colors of buttercream over the cake. Spin the turntable with one hand and, with the other, pull the buttercream with the side scraper to smooth the cake. This way, all colors blend beautifully.

Place a cake board under the bottom cake, insert the bamboo skewers into the cake and cut them to the correct length. Place the smaller cake on top. Cut some floral wires in half with the cutter tool. Mix brown food coloring with a small piece of white fondant. Shape canary grass cigars from this mixture. Attach the cigars to the floral wires with a bit of edible glue and wrap them with floral tape. Finish the cigars with a mix of snow white and milk chocolate gels. Color the rest of the fondant in various shades of green, roll it out thin, and use the cutting wheel to form long grass blades.

Place the frog on top of the cake. Push two floral wires behind the frog into the cake, and place the cigars on them. Attach the green grass blades to the floral wires so they are no longer visible. Further decorate the cake by attaching lily pads, water lilies, green grass blades, and canary grass with edible glue.