I wondered how I should name the cake, flavours or decorations. I decided on Nutty caramel cake because Sheep Cake doesn’t sound as good. I will talk a bit more about the decorations at the end of the post.

The cake has two fillings, one with cream and a creme patisserie with nutty flavour, peanut brittle and demerara sugar. The classic sponge is flavoured with buttery caramel and it also has peanut brittle.

Nutty caramel cake. Ingredients for the sponge (8 slices):

– 225g white plain flour
– 150g oil
– 150g sugar
– 4 medium eggs
– 2 tsp of baking powder
– 1 tsp vanilla paste
– hazelnut flavouring
– 75g peanut brittle, grounded

Preheat the oven at 180C or 160C fan.

Using a stand mixer, mix the flour, the oil, the eggs, the baking powder, vanilla paste, hazelnut flavouring and the sugar. Mix it for a couple of minutes at slow speed, then increase the speed and mix until all the ingredients are fully incorporated. Add the peanut brittle and mix for less than 1 minute, just so the brittle is incorporated in the mixture. Scoop the cake batter into the baking trays and bake until it springs back if touched, for around 40 minutes. When the sponge is baked, take it out of the oven. Leave it to cool for a couple of minutes in the tray, remove from tray and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack.
When the sponge is cold, cut it in 3 layers.

Ingredients for creme patisserie layer:

– 100g demerara sugar
– 50g plain flour
– 3 egg yolks
– 500ml milk
– buttery caramel flavouring
– 25g peanut brittle, grounded

Put the milk into a saucepan on the hub and bring to boil. In a mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks and the sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the sifted flour.

When the milk is boiling, pour it over the egg mixture and mix it for 1 minute until the heat from the milk is transferred to the cream. Pour everything back into the pan and bring to hob on medium heat. Stir continuously for 3-4 minutes. Make sure the cream does not catch the bottom of the pan. When the mixture has thicken it’s ready, but keep in mind that once it’s cool it will thicken more.
Pour the cream into a cold container and cover with cling film, making sure that the film is in direct contact with the cream’s surface. This step is important to prevent the formation of a crust on its surface.

Ingredients for whipped cream layer:

– 300ml whipping cream
– 75g icing sugar

Just mix the whipping cream with the icing sugar with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until it’s firm.

To make the cake, put the first layer and spread generously creme patisserie on top. Place the second layer on top and pipe the whipped cream. Place the last tear, cover the top with nutty cream and pipe whipped cream on the sides. Sprinkle peanut brittle if you fancy. The cake is now ready to be decorated with cute sheep.

I made these sheep with my husband and we had so much fun. We followed a video I found on youtube and it’s very easy. It does need a lot of fondant, a bit of time and lots of utensils too. We’ve enjoyed it a lot, so it was worth the effort. The video, this one, was made for polymer clay, that is a little different. To make the fleece I used a nozzle for pipping cream, as the method she used wasn’t suitable for fondant. I’m thinking of making a post on how to make sheep from fondant, but that means I will have to make them again as I didn’t take any pictures when I made these.
The fondant character can be used for a long time, as they naturally air-dry. I washed the sheep after we cut the cake and I can use them at least a couple of times. So, this Easter, we’ll have them on the table, as decor or maybe on another cake.