INSTRUCTION
Preheat the oven to 170’C / 325’F / Gas Mark 3. Grease an 18-cm / 7-inch round cake tin and line base with baking paper.
Cream together the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and milk. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then fold in lightly and evenly using the metal spoon.
Spoon half the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in a few drops of orange food colouring, stirring to mix evenly. Place alternate spoonfuls of the plain and orange mixtures into the prepared cake tin, swirling lightly for a marbled effect. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 – 40 minutes, or until well-risen and form to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Reserve about 40 g / 1 1/2 oz of the icing and colour it with black food colouring, then colour the remaining icing with orange food colouring. Place the cake on a board or plate and brush the top and sides with apricot jam. Roll out the orange icing on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar so it is large enough to cover the cake, then lift it onto the cake, smoothing with your hands. Trim the edges at the base, reserving the trimmings.
Place the icing sugar in a bowl and stir enough water to make a paste, adding a few drops of black food colouring. Spoon into a small piping bag fitted with a medium plain nozzle, then pipe a spider’s web design over the top of the cake. Shape about half of the black icing into an oval for the spider’s body, then shape eight legs from the remaining black icing. Shape two eyes from the orange icing trimmings. Place the spider on the web.
INGREDIENTS
- 115 g/ 4 oz Unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
- 115 g / 4 oz Caster sugar
- 2 Eggs, beaten
- 3 tbsp Milk
- 140 g / 5 oz Self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- a few drops of orange edible food colouring
TOPPING
- 5OO g / 1 lb 2 oz Ready-to-roll icing sugar
- a few drops black and orange edible food colourings
- 2 tbsp Apricot jam, warmed
- 100 g / 3 1/2 oz Icing sugar, plus extra foe dusting
Making & Baking 