Knights Castle Cake Recipes

KNIGHT'S CASTLE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Generously grease Nordic Ware® Castle Bundt® cake pan with shortening and lightly flour, or spray pan with baking spray with flour.
• Make cake batter as directed on box. Pour batter into pan.
• Bake 33 to 43 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Using a long serrated knife, trim cake even with top of pan, if necessary. Turn pan upside down onto cooling rack; remove pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Place cake on 12- to 15-inch serving plate, tray or piece of cardboard covered with foil. Stir 8 to 10 drops blue food color into frosting. Spread frosting around base of cake to look like water. Sprinkle brown sugar around frosting on plate to look like sand.
• Place gumdrops on top of each tower. Cut long flag-shaped pieces out of fruit snack with sharp knife or kitchen scissors. Roll fruit snack around 4 toothpicks to make flags; insert toothpicks into gumdrops. Arrange crackers and rock candy in frosting, and add chocolate bar, upside down, for drawbridge as shown. Store loosely covered.

EASY CASTLE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and base line a round 13cm cake tin and a round 18cm cake tin. Place two muffin cases in a muffin tin.
• Put the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat together until light and creamy. Add all the remaining ingredients except the jam and beat well. Half fill the muffin cases and then fill the two cake tins 3/4 full. Bake in the oven placing the cake tins on one shelf and the muffin tin on another. Open the oven door and remove the muffins and smaller cake quickly when they are done as you don't want to let the heat out of the oven. The muffins will take about 35 mins, the 13cm cake about 1 hour 10 mins and the 18cm cake about 1 1/2 hours. You know each is done when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the cakes to become completely cold before icing.
• Trim the tops of the two cakes so they are flat. Slice each one in half, spread with jam and then sandwich together again. Using a 6cm cutter, cut each muffin to make a cylinder. Trim the tops flat. Sandwich together with jam to make a tower.
• To make the butter icing put the butter into a bowl and beat until soft. Gradually beat in the icing sugar. Spread the butter icing over both cakes and the muffin tower. Roll out the white icing and use to cover the two cakes. Place the larger one on a cake board. Put the smaller one on top. Roll a strip of white icing and wrap around the muffin tower. Place on top of the cake. Push a wooden skewer though the cakes to hold them together.
• Using about 150g pink icing, mould into an onion shape for the dome. Put to one side. Roll out a little pink icing and cut out a 6cm round and place on top of the muffin tower. Using the made up royal icing, attach the dome to the top of the tower.
• Using the pink icing make two doors and two curtains. Attach to the cake using royal icing. Make windows by rolling out the lilac icing and cutting out hearts using medium, small and tiny cutters. Attach these upside down to the cake with royal icing. Roll a small piece of lilac icing into a thin sausage and stick around the curtains to make the window frame.
• Again using the royal icing, stick on the pieces of gum around the doors, and the sugar cubes around the edge of the cakes. Attach silver balls to the dome to decorate and to the doors to make handles. Score horizontal lines down the doors to give a textured effect. Attach a piece of gum under each window on the middle tier and then stick three flowers on top to make window boxes.
• Colour the remaining royal icing green and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe creeper branches up the castle walls. Attach mini sugar flowers.
• Stick coloured flags or candles into the middle tier of the cake. Sprinkle a little edible glitter over the dome and sugar cubes.

HAUNTED CASTLE CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine cookie dough and flour. Press into a 15x10x1-in. baking pan lined with nonstick foil or parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely before carefully removing to a cutting board., Trace full patterns onto waxed paper; cut out. Arrange patterns over baked cookie. With a serrated knife and a sawing motion, cut out castle pieces and tombstones. Set cutouts aside., To make icing: In a large bowl, combine the first three icing ingredients; add water and vanilla. Beat on low speed until blended. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Remove 1/4 cup icing and tint orange. Place a damp cloth over bowl and cover tightly between uses., To decorate: Place all castle pieces on a parchment paper-lined work surface. Insert #4 tip into a pastry bag; fill with orange icing. Pipe a window outline on piece A and a door outline on piece B (do not fill in). Pipe and fill in two windows on piece B and one window on each C piece. Press Tic Tacs around all windows., Remove 1/4 cup icing and tint black. Insert #4 tip into pastry bag; fill with black icing. Outline castle pieces and tombstones in black. Fill in window on piece A and door. On parchment paper, pipe 2-1/2-in. bat and cat shapes. Place a damp paper towel over pastry tip, place in a small resealable bag and set aside. Add pearl dragees for cat and bat eyes; add pupils if desired., Insert #4 tip into pastry bag; fill with 1/4 cup white icing. Carefully pipe white icing "mortar" between Tic Tacs. On parchment paper, pipe 2-in. ghosts. Tint some white icing gray and thin if necessary; fill in tombstones., Remove 3/4 cup reserved icing and tint violet. Insert #46 tip into pastry bag; add 1/3 cup of the violet icing. On waxed paper, pipe 12-15 fence sections. (Each section has three strips, about 1 to 1-1/2-in. long.) Set aside 1 tablespoon violet icing for bricks. Thin remaining violet icing with 1-2 teaspoons water. Insert #6 tip into pastry bag; fill with thinned icing. Fill in castle pieces with thinned icing., Tint remaining icing brown. Using tips #4 and 6, pipe a tree onto parchment paper. Let all pieces dry for 24 hours., With a paintbrush and reserved dark violet icing, add brick designs to castle pieces; let dry., Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using two greased 9-in. round baking pans. Tint buttercream frosting green. Spread frosting between layers and over the top and sides of cake., To assemble: Just before serving, add each castle piece to cake and support with skewers. Just behind the center of the cake, make a 3-in. wide x 1-in.- deep cut into the cake; gently insert castle piece B. About 1 in. behind piece B, make a 1-1/2-in. wide x 1-in.-deep cut into the cake; insert piece A. For C pieces, make 1-1/2-in. x 1-in.-deep cuts in front and on each side of piece B; add remaining pieces., Finishing touches: If desired, add phrases and a bunch of flowers to the tombstones; arrange on cake. Add faces on the ghosts; attach ghosts and bat with icing. Add the cat, trees and fence.