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I made all of these items the day before so that I only had to assemble on the day of the party. You’ll need to refrigerate the cherry pie filling, but the cake and frosting can just be covered in plastic wrap and left at room temperature.
On the day of, it’s time to assemble. First make a dam with frosting on each layer where you will put the cherry pie filling. Simply pipe it around the edge with a large piping tip and then fill it with half of the cherry pie filling, repeat with the next layer. Whisk together vegetable shortening and dairy free cream cheese (full fat varieties only! I used Asda's own brand one) until smooth.It is a bit of a labour of love to make, but all of the elements are easy to do, it just takes a bit of time to make everything and assemble the cake.
Spread a couple of spoonfuls of lemon curd inside the ring of buttercream, making sure not to overfill it. Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the bottom of one of the remaining cake layers and place it on top. Repeat the same steps as before. I think this theme would suit kids of many ages, so I figured I’d share a bit of a tutorial on how I made it in case you’re interested. I posted the process on my insta stories, and thought I would share those photos with a bit more in-depth explanation here.
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I made only this one small batch of buttercream which was just enough for the whole cake, as I only used it as a dam for the filling and to thinly frost the outside. That is the bonus of naked cakes – less frosting! I know I’m not the only one who scrapes the frosting off when eating cake. This way you just scrape it off from the start. 😉 Divide the batter between three greased and lined 20cm/8in round cake tins and bake for about 25 minutes.
It is topped with cute vegan gingerbread animals and trees, with a scattering of sugared cranberries, nuts, seeds and rosemary sprigs to complete the woodland scene. It looks especially effective if you serve it on a wooden board! (Mine is from TK Maxx.) Spread a layer of buttercream over the top and sides of the cake then top with the gingerbread animals and trees, some chopped nuts, sprigs of rosemary, pumpkin seeds and sugared cranberries. You will need to use some wooden skewers to prop the trees on top of the cake up. Select the colour of icing for your first animal and roll out to a size large enough to cover one of your mini cakes. Drape the icing over one of the sponges and cut neatly around the edge. Repeat for each cake. To make sugared cranberries if you want to use them, place 50g granulated sugar and 50ml water in a small pan. heat gently, stirring often, until the sugar dissolves and it comes up to the boil. I made this woodland birthday cake a while ago for my daughter’s 7th birthday. She absolutely adores animals and nature so the forest theme suited her perfectly.Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Dip fresh cranberries in the sugar syrup, shake off the excess then roll them in granulated sugar and transfer to a baking parchment lined tray to set.
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