You will need:
Vanilla Cake
- 8 eggs
- 1 ½ cups caster sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup Almond Flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla Le Supreme food flavouring
Mascarpone cream
- 500 gr mascarpone cheese
- 400ml cream
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 4 tsp Hazelnut Le Supreme food flavouring
Chocolate Ganage
- 250gr dark chocolate drops
- 150ml cream
- Biscuit crumbs
Other
Saracino Pasta Scultura
Saracino Pasta Top: brown and white
Saracino Wafer Paper 0.60mm
Saracino powder colour: orange, white, yellow, light skin tone, green, pink, red, brown and black
Step 1
Prepare your ingredients.
Step 2
Whisk the eggs until fluffy then add the sugar and vanilla food flavouring. Mix the dry ingredients seperately. Add them to the wet ingredients and mix briefly. Spread the mixture in a flat baking tray lined with baking paper (my tray is 43cm x 35cm). Place in an oven preheated to 180°C. Bake for 15-17 minutes.
Step 3
Whisk the mascarpone cream, the cream and the sugar together then add the hazelnut food flavouring.
Step 4
For the ganache add the chocolate drops to hot cream and mix well.
Step 5
Cut four 16cm diameter circles from the cake when cooled.
Step 6
Stack the cake layered with the mascarpone cream. From the left over sponge you can add roots on one side and cut a few pieces to add on top of the cake to form a hole. Coat the outside with the ganache (it does not need to be perfect as it will look more natural if it is not).
Step 7
Roll enough Saracino brown Pasta Top to cover the cake. Add some more paste randomly to a few places and use your modelling tool to add texture so it looks like bark. Cover the cake.
Step 8
For the bark of the log tear wafer paper into thin long strips. Mix brown powder colour with clear alcohol and paint the strips brown.
Step 9
Use the same process to add black to the bark to give a two tone effect. This stage can be messy so you can use gloves.
Step 10
Add the wafer paper strips to the cake when they are still wet as they will easily stick.
Step 11
Use a soft large brush and geeen powder colour to add moss shades.
Step 12
The final result of the bark texture should look as shown.
Step 13
Draw a few free hand leaves onto wafer paper.
Step 14
Cut out the leaves. Mix orange, yellow, red and brown powder colour with clear alcohol and paint the leaves starting with the lighter colours.
Step 15
Use your Dresden tool to add lines to the leaves.
Step 16
Use your ball tool to curve the leaves on a foam mat.
Step 17
Mix together equal parts of Pasta Scultura and white Pasta Top for the mushrooms and squirrel modelling.
Step 18
Model mushroom stems and caps and use a new clean rough dishwashing sponge to add texture.
Step 19
Insert a toothpick in one of the mushrooms so we can fix it in front of the squirrel.
Step 20
Use a soft brush and light skin tone, orange and brown powder colours to dust the mushrooms.
Step 21
Using the paste mixture model the shape of the squirrel with your hands. The squirrel needs to be to the right proportions to the hole in the top of our cake.
Step 22
Use your Dresden tool to mark the nose and the mouth.
Step 23
Use the Dresden tool to form ete sockets. Push up to form the eye brow area.
Step 24
Make sure the eyesockets are at the same position on both sides of the head.
Step 25
Roll two equal size balls for the eyes and fix them in the sockets. Define the line over the eyes with your Dresden tool.
Step 26
Use the sharp end of the Dresden tool to add a fur texture.
Step 27
Make two triangles for the ears and blend them to the head with your Dresden tool.
Step 28
Use scissors and Dresden tool to cut and add the fur texture to the ears.
Step 29
For the arms roll a sausage shape and cut it in half.
Step 30
Fix the arms to the body and use scissors to cut the fingers.
Step 31
Add the squirrel to the cake to check it is the correct size and use tweezers to shape the fingers.
Step 32
Your squirrel should look like this.
Step 33
Remove the squirrel and place on a work board. Dust the squirrel with light skin tone powder colour (always start with the lighter colours and add little by little).
Step 34
Dust the squirrel with orange powder colour.
Step 35
Dust with brown powder colour.
Step 36
Dust with red powder colour and use pink for the nose.
Step 37
Dust the bottom of the body, the ends of the paws and the tips of the ears with the black powder colour.
Step 38
Mix black powder colour with clear alcohol and paint the eyes using a fine brush.
Step 39
Add all the elements to the cake – put the biscuits crumbs on the base around the log, fix the squirrel in the hole on the log, fix two mushrooms on the base and the one with the toothpick in front of the squirrel and leaves on the base.
