Colourful cobra cake

Equipment

You'll need a 55cm square cake board, double-sided sticky tape, 10cm long piece thin wire (22 gauge), toothpicks and skewers.

Ingredients

3 x 340g packets golden buttercake mix or 3 quantities Homemade cake (see related recipe)
3 x 340g packets Smarties (we used only the purple, pink, yellow, red and orange)
2 x 380g packets M&Ms (we used only the yellow, red and orange)
1 strawberry sour strap
5cm piece licorice strap
2 green mini M&Ms
2 teaspoons orange sprinkles
Buttercream icing
250g butter, softened
3 cups icing sugar mixture
2 tablespoons milk
Orange food colouring paste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Liberally grease two 6cm-deep, 23cm (top) round fluted cake pans (see tip, below). Dust with flour. Lightly grease a 7cm-deep, 20cm round cake pan. Line base and side with baking paper.
2. Make 2 packet cakes following packet directions or homemade cakes (see related recipe). Divide batter between prepared fluted cake pans. Bake for 40 minutes or until cooked through. Make remaining cake. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
3. Make icing: Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a bowl until pale. Gradually add icing sugar mixture and milk, beating constantly until combined.
4. Place head and tail tip templates on round cake. Secure with toothpicks. Cut around templates. Cut one-quarter from 1 fluted cake. Place remaining three-quarters of cake on board. Place cut piece in opposite direction to form tail. Using icing, secure tail and tail tip to cake. Starting at the other end of the cake, cut a 2cm-deep x 10cm-long slice off the top of cake. Using picture as a guide, rest the other fluted cake onto the cut. Secure with skewers. Place leftover round cake underneath to support sides. Taper head piece to sit flat on cake. Use skewers to secure (see Cooking class, below).
5. Tint icing orange. Reserve 1 teaspoon icing. Spread remaining icing over top and sides of cake. Using picture as a guide, position Smarties and M&Ms on cake to create scales. Wrap wire in double-sided tape to enclose. Using picture as a guide, cut sour strap into a thin, forked tongue shape. Stick tongue to wire, leaving 3cm wire uncovered. Cut licorice strap into 2 triangles. Using reserved icing, place 1 green mini M&M on each licorice piece to form eyes. Position eyes on cake. Insert tongue into front of head. Top head with orange sprinkles. Serve.


Notes

Download Colourful Cobra cake template

Cooking class: Remove and discard skewers, toothpicks and wire before serving. Rest remaining fluted cake on groove in cut cake. Place leftover cake underneath to support sides. Taper head piece to sit flat on cake. Secure with skewers.

Tip: We used silicone round fluted cake pans.