How to bake a spectacular shark shaped cake!

If you want to wow the neighbours or worry your kids just follow these simple instructions for Cat’s spectacular shark-shaped cake!  By Cat Munro

You will need food colouring for the cake, maybe food colouring paste for the icing and several other odd bits and pieces – where an ingredient, tool or recipe might be hard to find in your average kitchen I have put in a link to a supplier or useful website (for instance, here is a link for fondant icing)…

I’ve tried to find the simplest and cheapest recipes and suppliers, but if you have a better recipe for something or a way you think will work easier then by all means experiment!  You may want to wear gloves when dyeing gooey icingy things…

Fins and things

First buy a block of fondant icing – dye a small amount black and roll into little round eyes.  Dye a bigger lump grey, roll out and cut into fin shapes with a knife – leave out on a tray to harden up for a day or two.

Cake

Make up some cake mix – Cat uses an American Red Velvet cake recipe –  and mix in some red dye.  Get your hands on a rugby ball Cake tin if you can – alternatively, make a regular cake and carefully cut the edges off slanty-ways.  Bake two identical cakes.

Filling and assembling

Take one cake and slice part of the curved top bit off – make it a bit near one end rather than right on top.  You can eat this piece…then stand the cake with the new flat bit on the table, so the other end sticks up at an angle.  Cover the up-facing surface of the cake with thick icing and red fruit.  Put the second cake flat-side down on top of the fruit and icing – pin in place with a Mikado biscuit!

Ace of cake-base

Mix up blue-coloured water icing (lots of icing suger, some water, some blue food colour) and dye some desiccated coconut blue – then line a tray (or whatever) with silver foil and spread the icing over it.  Cover with the coconut – and edible sparkles – to make a glitzy sea.

Finishing touches

Use leftover fondant icing to make the white bits of the eyes and scary teeth – dye a lump red to roll out and make bloody gums!  Cover your shark with thick icing coloured grey – then stick on his eyes, fins and teeth.  Put your shark on your glittery sea and, if you like, make dark grey fondant icing lumps for rocks – perfect for sticking candles into!

Now eat your cake…

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