Description
Bring your desserts to life with this playful 2D comic cake, featuring a moist peanut butter sponge and rich dark chocolate ganache. This eye-catching treat combines artistic flair with classic farmhouse flavors for a truly unique celebration centerpiece.
Ingredients
- Softened butter
- Caster sugar
- Crunchy peanut butter
- Large eggs
- Self-raising flour
- Baking powder
- Whole milk
- Vanilla extract
- Dark chocolate (54%)
- Double cream
- Light brown sugar
- Butter (for ganache)
- Sea salt
- Royal icing sugar
- Pasteurized egg white
- Black gel food coloring
- White, pastel pink, yellow, and red fondant
- Cornflour (for dusting)
- Edible glue
- Modelling chocolate or brown fondant
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan/375°F/Gas 5) and grease a 20cm cake tin.
- Beat together the butter, sugar, peanut butter, eggs, flour, baking powder, milk, and vanilla until the batter is smooth and creamy.
- Spoon the mixture into the tin, level with a palette knife, and bake for 20-25 minutes until springy to the touch.
- Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Prepare the ganache by heating cream, brown sugar, butter, and salt to a simmer, then pouring over the dark chocolate; stir until glossy and let thicken.
- Whisk the royal icing sugar with egg white and black food coloring until smooth, then transfer to a piping bag with a writing nozzle.
- Quarter the cooled sponge, stack the pieces, and trim with a serrated knife to form a clean wedge shape.
- Sandwich the layers with ganache, coat the exterior of the wedge, and chill until the ganache is firm.
- Cover the straight sides with rolled white fondant and the curved top with pink fondant, cutting a wobbly edge for a dripping effect.
- Decorate the sides with thin sausages of pink and yellow fondant to represent internal fillings.
- Top with a fondant buttercream swirl and a red fondant cherry, then use black royal icing to pipe outlines on every visible edge to create the 2D effect.
Notes
For the most striking visual impact, ensure your black outlines are applied from a single front perspective to maintain the 2D illusion. If the fondant becomes too soft while handling, brief chilling periods for both the cake and your decorations will make the assembly much more manageable.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Modern