Pot Plant Cake 7

by Jude Wells
(Paralimni, Cyprus)

Edible Pots

My dad is an avid gardener, so I made him a pot plant cake. I used new terracotta pots from the garden center. I washed them well and then dried them out in the oven to kill off any nasties before using to bake. I bought a couple of sizes to get a better effect.

I made a basic fruit cake for dad, (but I have also made sponge cake ones). Let it cool in the pots. I found if you turned it out when still hot, the sponge cake collapsed a bit, but was fine when I left it to thoroughly cool in the pot.

I coloured Regalice with a mixture of red and orange to get the terracotta colour. I put warmed apricot jam around the sides of the "pots" (but you can choose your favorite flavour of course) and rolled the icing around the outside. I then put a thicker layer at the top to form a ridge.

I then stood them up and put in the 'fridge for a while. I cut circles of icing for the inside top of the large cake after colouring the offcuts of the terracotta icing with a bit of black to darken it to look like earth. I have also used chocolate buttercream when I made the sponge cakes.

The time consuming bit was making the flowers, but I roped a friend in to help here! We each made a few roses and put them on baking paper into the fridge to keep their shape. ( I live in Cyprus which is very hot), while we made different coloured leaves... (and before anyone points it out to me, I KNOW they are not rose leaves and that roses don't usually grow in pot plants).

For added effect I made a tiny ladybug out of icing and found some lovely flower shaped candles. The spilled "earth" is a crumbled up flake bar. Chocolate strands work just as well for effect.

Dad was really pleased with this one. The next time I made him a vegetable garden with tiny cabbages, carrots and cauliflowers which he also loved.