Last week my baby Nia turned two and we celebrated with a Gruffalo party because she is, along with Saria, obsessed with the book and the short film. While I’m not keen on much character led stuff, the Gruffalo is a story loved by so many and I gave myself a brief of coming up with creative homemade food that both adults and kids would love.
For the Gruffalo birthday cake, taking inspiration from a BG reader on Facebook, I made two Victoria sponges using the Nigella Lawson recipe from How To Be a Domestic Goddess. First time I’d baked a sponge since home ec in the convent school and they turned out perfectly so highly recommend the recipe! I’m wheat free so I made it with Dove’s Farm Plain Flour.
To sandwich the two cakes together, I used buttercream icing that I’d made my accident in an attempt to make chocolate icing…every cloud and all that jazz… I use the recipe from Rachel Allen’s Bake – it’s basically butter, caster sugar, and a tablespoon of milk/water. You could equally just use cream.
The chocolate icing is from the same Nigella cookbook and is a doddle to make…as long as you don’t forget to sieve the icing sugar until you’re half way through – spin any lumps as Gruffalo prickles…. I covered the sides and top with it.
The fun bit – how to make The Gruffalo’s face.
Marshmallows – small teeth
Two bananas – One banana cut in half does the tusks. We then cut the 2nd banana in half and then halved again to make the long tooth. Use toothpicks to keep the tusks steady.
Black icing pen – Easily found on the confectionary aisle. Recommend a steady, slow hand and practice in pen on a piece of paper. Use the pen for the mouth, nose, whiskers, eye pupils, and to draw around the clementine/satsuma eyes for added effect.
Clementine – Cut in half and scoop out. Position on cake with toothpicks.
Poisonous wart on the end of his nose – a pea or green jelly
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