Purdy the pig children's birthday cake

This playful Purdy the pig cake is the perfect centrepiece for a children's party, or fundraising bake sale, and can even be made with help from the kids. We promise you'll be the star baker with this recipe.

Recipe info

Preparation time: 55 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Serves: 8 to 10

Ingredients

For the cake:

oil or butter, for greasing
6 medium RSPCA Assured eggs
100g natural plain yoghurt
50ml RSPCA Assured milk
450g unsalted butter
450g caster sugar
450g self-raising flour
1 tsp pink food colouring
1 tbsp cocoa powder

For the syrup:

100ml water
100g caster sugar
half a tsp vanilla essence

For the butter icing:

175g softened butter
350g icing sugar

For the decoration:

700g pink fondant icing
25g white fondant icing
25g black fondant icing

Method

For the cakes:

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/gas mark 3. Grease and line the base and sides of three 20cm circular cake tins with greaseproof paper. You will also need a 23cm cake board for later on.

Step 2:

Whisk the yoghurt, RSPCA Assured eggs and milk together in a jug. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy then add the flour and contents of the jug. Mix again until smooth.

Step 3:

Spoon a third of the mix into a bowl and add the cocoa powder. Fold gently and then spoon into one of the prepared tins.

Step 4:

Add the pink food colouring to the rest of the cake mix and fold until the mix is an even colour. Spoon into the remaining two prepared tins then bake all three for 40 minutes.

Step 5:

Whilst the cakes are in the oven, make the syrup; heat the water and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes then add the vanilla essence and leave to cool.

Step 6:

Remove the cakes from the oven when ready - insert a thin skewer into the sponge and if it comes out clean, the cake is done. Leave to cool for 5 minutes. Whilst the cake is still warm but not hot, brush each one with the sugar syrup. Do not soak the sponge, just make sure you get a nice even coverage that goes all the way to the edges. Leave for a further 10 minutes to completely cool before turning out onto a rack. Don't start decorating until the cakes just yet - the icing will melt!

For the butter icing:

Step 7:

Beat the butter until it becomes lighter in colour and has a smooth texture. Add half the icing sugar and gently combine the ingredients with a wooden spoon before beating in a mixer. Gently stir in the remaining icing sugar with your spoon and then whisk again until smooth and fluffy.

Step 8:

When you're ready to assemble the cake, spoon a dollop of butter icing onto the cake board and place one of the pink cakes on top, then cover in a generous layer of buttercream. Top with the chocolate cake and repeat, finishing with the second pink cake on top.

Step 9:

Cover the last layer generously with buttercream icing and smooth down the sides with a spatula or palette knife, being sure to fill in all the gaps. Save a little buttercream back for some final touches at the end. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes before decorating.

To decorate:

Step 10:

Once cool, measure across the top and sides of the cake using a piece of string or by carefully measuring against a rolling pin. This will act as a guide for when you roll out the icing. Make sure your work surface is clean and free of any crumbs then dust liberally with cornflour or icing sugar.

Step 11:

Knead the pink fondant icing until soft before rolling into a ball and flattening into a round shape. Roll out the icing so it's wide enough to fit the cake and has a thickness of approximately half a centimetre. Carefully lift the icing using a rolling pin or your hands and drape it over the top of the cake.

Step 12:

Smooth using your hands or a palette knife, starting at the top then working down the sides to remove any air bubbles. Use a small, sharp knife to cut away the excess icing (be careful not to cut too close to the cake) - now smooth the icing down using a spatula or your hands for a perfect finish.

To create Purdy's face:

Step 13:

Use your excess icing from earlier. Roll two pieces (slightly thicker this time) and shape into triangles using a knife. Wet the bottom edges and stick to the side of the cake (remember to smooth these down afterwards) and fold gently over to create ears.

Step 14:

Next, knead and roll a ball of icing to create the Purdy's nose. Flatten the ball on both sides until it resembles a snout shape and use your little finger or an icing tool to make two indentations for nostrils. Wet the underside of the nose with water and stick to the covered cake.

Step 15:

Roll out the white icing and cut two coin shapes for the eyes. Wet the underside and stick to the cake. Next, make two black balls from the black icing, flatten slightly and add to the eyes - you could also use black food colouring and a paintbrush if you prefer.

Step 16:

Next, give Purdy a smiley mouth with either a narrow strip of black icing or a stroke of food colouring.

Step 17:

Lastly, mix your remaining buttercream with cocoa powder and roughly spread onto any exposed cake board so your pig has some mud to wallow in.