Erin Fox
Pumpkins are my favourite thing about Autumn and since I was little girl I’ve dreamed of visiting a pumpkin patch. I always imagined pumpkin patches to be haunted, with hovering bats and a spooky looking scarecrow. Until I get to visit a pumpkin patch, this cake is inspired by my childhood dreams of pumpkin patches on a blustery autumn day.
You can make this cake without the bats and scarecrow if you prefer. The pumpkins and the leaves can be made a few days or up to a week before baking the cake. Just store them in a cardboard box.
To decorate the cake:
- Cocoa powder.
- Fondant.
- Mexican modelling paste.
- Mint green gel food colouring.
- Tangerine gel food colouring.
- Edible antique gold lustre.
- Edible copper lustre.
- One small leaf cutter.
- One clean paint palette.
- 3 packets chocolate fingers.
For the pumpkin scarecrow:
- One sugar pumpkin.
- Edible black food colouring pen.
- Wooden skewers.
- Sellotape.
- A piece of black bin liner
For the bats:
- Black card.
- White floral wire.
Break off some of the fondant and colour it orange. Colour the remaining fondant green and wrap up in tin foil until using. Break pieces off the orange fondant and roll into mini pumpkins, varying in size. Using a knife, carve the markings into the pumpkin.
Roll out the green fondant and make stalks for each pumpkin. For the tendrils, finely roll out the remaining green fondant, cut into strips and curl around the end of a paint brush. Leave to harden for a few hours then slip of the tendrils and place them on top of the pumpkins.
For the scarecrow, cut a wooden skewer in half, make a cross with it and secure with the tape. Pierce the centre of the scrap of bin bag and pull this over the top of the cross. Make holes in the sides to pull the bag over the cross arms. Take one of the pumpkins and with the edible black food colour pen, draw the face markings onto the pumpkin. Place the pumpkin head on top of the cross.
Roll out a little of the mexican modelling paste and cut out the leaves. Place them in the paint palette to give them shape and leave them to dry. Using a clean paintbrush, colour them with the copper and gold lustre.
To make the flying bats, cut out miniature bat hapes from the black card and glue them to the floral wire.
To decorate the cake, dust the cake with the cocoa powder or the chocolate shavings. Place the chocolate fingers all around the sides of the cake for the fence.
Space the pumpkins out around the cake leaving a free space in one of the corners for the scarecrow. Place the scarecrow into the cake and fan out the bin bag. Scatter the leaves in between the pumpkins and around the scarecrow. Push the wired bats into the cake and bend the tops so they “hover” over the pumpkin patch.
See website for cake recipe.
