Hedgehog cake help please!

Churchmouse

I should be able to make it with my eyes closed but I can't find the recipe and I'm panicking!! It's one where you cook the sponge in a pudding basin then cut and rearrange it into a "mound" before covering with buttercream etc. Does anyone have a recipe and cooking times temp etc? I thought my biggest challenge was going to be cooking it in new electric fan oven, I've always had gas before, little did I know!! Any help will be very gratefully received.:D

rchddap1

Basic chocolate cake made in a bowl.

henhog

Churchmouse wrote:

I thought my biggest challenge was going to be cooking it in new electric fan oven, I've always had gas before, little did I know!! Any help will be very gratefully received.:D

Just one word of caution - my fan oven cooks everything really quickly and if your oven is anything like mine, you will need to select a lower temp than the recipe states and take about 10 - 15 mins off the cooking time!

Good luck with the Hedgehog cake - if you can remember the book with the recipe in you could nip to the library!

fruitycar

quick look in assorted cake books found these:

Quick sponge cake; 1 3/4pt pud basin; 160C 325F gas 3; 45 mins

Quick sponge cake; 2 1/2 pt pudding basin; 170C 325F Gas 3; 55 mins
Victoria Sponge; '' '' '' '' '' '' 1-1 1/2 hrs

Quick sponge cake; 3 1/4pt mixing bowl; same temps; 1 hour
Victoria sponge; '' '' '' '' '' 1 1/2 hrs

sorry, cant help with fan timings.
Do you do your hedgehog with chocolate buttons?...mmmmmm

Its lovely your DS still enjoys such happy childhood things. My OH's favourite (birthday) tea is still fish fingers, with jelly for pudding, and he's a lot older than 24 ! lol:rotfl:

Churchmouse

Thanks for the warning henhog, yes it does seem fiercer than my old gas one, I'd assumed that was because it was very very old!

Brilliant fruitycar, just what I wanted!!! Seeing the times and temps in print has jogged my memory and I know now I used to do it at gas 3 for 55mins to 1hr 10mins. If my son were here he'd thank you too!!:T :T :T

Yes, lots of choccy buttons!! And smarties for eyes.

Fleur_2

My little sister had one every year. The cake my Mum used to make was from the Cadbury cookbook. A quick look on their site (via a google 'chocolate hedgehog cake' search) brought this up:

Harriet Hedgehog

A real favourite with the tinies. But do cut the cake from the back leaving the face intact to avoid tears! Serves about 10.

Ingredients:
175g (6oz) margarine
175g (6oz) caster sugar
3 eggs, size 3
150g (5oz) self-raising flour
5ml (1 tsp) baking powder
25g (1oz) Cadbury cocoa
1 small orange
Orange food colouring
350g (12oz) chocolate butter icing
2 large packets Cadbury milk chocolate Buttons
1 glacé cherry
2 roasted coffee beans, raisins or small sweets

Also, you will require:
1.2 litre (2 pint) ovenproof basin, greased
A baking tray

Cooking Instructions:
Cream the margarine and sugar until light in colour and texture. Gradually add the eggs, then fold in the flour and baking powder sifted together. In a separate mixing bowl, blend the cocoa to a paste with a little boiling water, then add half the cake mixture to it and mix well. Finely grate the orange rind and add it to the remaining mixture with enough strained orange juice to make a soft dropping consistency. Add colouring, if liked.

Spoon the two mixtures alternately into the basin then swirl through only once so that they remain separate. Smooth the top and hollow out the centre slightly. Stand the cake on a baking tray and cook in a moderate oven (180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4) for 1-11/4 hours until cooked through. When cooked, a warm skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out cleanly. Turn out and cool on a wire tray.

To decorate:
Spread the flat base of the turned-out cake with some of the icing, then cut it in half down the middle. Sandwich the two iced ends together to make the dome shape of the hedgehog. Cut down through the cake on either side of the butter icing, spread with a little more icing and put the cake back together again. Lift the cake on to a board or flat plate and cover it completely with chocolate butter icing. Put a little more chocolate icing on one end and mark with a fork to make a pointed snout and face. Rub the Buttons to make them shine, then cut each in half. Stick them in at an angle, in lines, over three-quarters of the cake leaving the forked area clear, ensuring all the Buttons point in the same direction. Place the cherry in position to make a nose and the coffee beans, raisins or small sweets on the cake to represent eyes.

http://www.cadbury.co.uk/EN/CTB2003/kitchen_lifestyle/recipes/kids/harriet_hedgehog.htm

Churchmouse

Thanks for that Fleur! Love the bit about cutting from the back forwards to leave the face!! We've always done that and the birthday boy always claims the face, lots of extra buttercream!!

Churchmouse

Thanks all, cake now baked, and if I say so myself, perfect!!:j Now cooling before the fun part of decorating starts. It's such a shame, there will be trimmings of cake and butter icing over and no kids around so I'll have to force myself to eat them!!!:rotfl: And I wonder why I'm putting on weight!

henhog

Hope DS loves the cake - sounds wonderful!
It reminds me of when I was a little girl I loved sheep / lambs so my mom made me a cake in the shape of a lamb (basically a cloud shape covered in that Christmas cake pointy icing, with mini roll legs!). The ironic thing was I also had lamb for dinner and didn't make the connection between the two!!