Spring Flower Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
• In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.
• Bake 28 to 33 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Place cooling rack upside down over cake. Turn upside down carefully so cake is on rack, and remove pan. Turn upside down onto another rack, and flip cake right side up. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• In 2 medium bowls, place 3/4 cup each of frosting. To 1 bowl, add red food color to desired pink color; to other bowl, add blue food color to desired color. In 2 small bowls, place 1/3 cup each of frosting; add yellow and green food colors to desired colors.
• Place cake, top side up, on serving platter. Spread remaining 1 1/2 cups frosting on top and sides of cake.
• Using photo as guide, decorate as follows: Fit 1 decorating bag with large size star piping tip; fill bag with pink frosting. Pipe center of a rosette flower onto top of cake. Touch piping tip to cake to attach frosting-apply steady pressure to bag while squeezing; pipe in a tight circle to make a flower about 2 inches in diameter, tapping tip to cake to complete flower, and lift off. Continue to pipe different size rosettes and stars over top of cake with pink frosting. Next add blue frosting to same decorating bag. Continue to pipe rosettes and stars with blue frosting.
• Fit another decorating bag with medium-size star piping tip; fill with yellow frosting. Pipe different size rosettes and stars around top of cake to fill in empty spaces. Fit another decorating bag with small round piping tip, and fill with green frosting. Pipe green leaves and vines to fill in spaces.
• Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Steps:

• Toss coconut with food coloring until evenly tinted.
• Place cake on large serving plate. Frost top and side with COOL WHIP; sprinkle with coconut. Cut cake into 8 slices, leaving all slices in place. Carefully pull out cake slices and separate slightly to resemble the petals of a flower.
• Fill center with berries just before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Steps:

• Make the almond paste. Tip the ground almonds into a bowl and stir in the caster sugar, ginger and cornflour. Pour in the egg white and work together until you have a smooth paste. Roll into a ball, wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for at least half an hour, to firm up.
• Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan oven 160C. Line a 7.5cm/3in deep, 18cm/7in round cake tin with non-stick baking parchment. Use two circles for the bottom and two layers of paper for the sides (this will help protect the cake during the long bake).
• Make the cake. Mix the fruits and stem ginger in a bowl. Put the tea in another bowl, pour over 125ml/4fl oz boiling water and infuse for 5 minutes. Strain the liquid over the fruit, then stir in the golden syrup and ground ginger.
• Sift together the plain and self-raising flours. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric whisk until the mixture is light in colour and drops softly from the beaters. Beat in the eggs a little at a time, then gently stir in the sifted flours until smooth. Finally, stir in the dried fruits and their liquid.
• Spoon half the cake mixture into the tin and smooth the surface. Unwrap the almond paste on a surface lightly dusted with cornflour, and roll a third of it into a round to barely cover the surface of the mixture. Lift and place the paste inside the tin and press down to remove any trapped air. Spoon the rest of the cake mixture on top and smooth the surface.
• Cover the top of the tin with foil, scrunching it lightly at the sides to hold it in place. Bake for 50 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 45 minutes to 1 hour until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean (replace the foil hat if the cake shows signs of overbrowning during this time). Leave in the tin until completely cold, then remove and strip away the lining paper.
• For the decoration, put the remaining almond paste on a surface lightly dusted with cornflour and roll into a round that is barely 18cm/7in in diameter. Trim any rough edges using the base of the tin. Brush the jam over the surface of the cake, then press the paste firmly on top, making sure it is centred and even.
• Preheat the grill until hot. Place the cake on a baking tray and grill until light brown on top, rotating it to make sure it browns evenly. Remove and leave to cool. (You can make up to this stage in advance - wrap the cake in cling film and keep in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. You can freeze the cake for up to 1 month)
• To finish, put the cake on your prettiest serving plate and sift icing sugar over the almond paste. Decorate with a few sugar-frosted flowers, dust lightly with a little extra icing sugar and tie a ribbon around the cake.