If you'd like to make your own Pudsey, you will need:
9” round cake (4” deep or 2 x 2” deep)
8” round cake (4” deep or 2 x 2” deep)
7” diameter (4 pint) ball cake
16” round cake drum
8” round hardboard
7” round hardboard
6” round board (to use as a guide for shaping shoulders)
4” round cake card
1 kg approx. white chocolate paste or marzipan for
forming ears, nose, arms and legs
500 g approx. white sugarpaste for board and bandana
Small amounts of red, yellow, blue, green and black
sugarpaste for spots and features
Piping bag
Wilton fur/grass nozzle 233
Wooden or plastic dowels
For the buttercream:
1.5 kg block butter
2 kg icing sugar
4 tablespoons Meriwhite
340 g caster sugar
Pure vanilla extract
Paste food colours – Sugarflair melon and autumn leaf
For the spotty board
covering - roll out a piece of white sugarpaste big enough to cover your board
then roll small balls of red, yellow, green and blue sugarpaste and press them
flat on the white sugarpaste with your fingertips. You shouldn’t need to use any glue to get the
dots to stick so long as the white paste is freshly rolled and hasn’t crusted
over. Use a smoother to smooth out the
paste and incorporate the spots into the white paste. Smooth the sugarpaste onto the board being
careful not to distort the shape of the spots, then trim away any excess
paste. Set board aside so sugarpaste can
dry out.
If the top of the
cakes are slightly domed then cut the domed part off using a sharp serrated
knife so that the cakes are completely level.
Split each cake three times horizontally, giving four layers of equal
height. This is easier done if you bake
two 2” tall cakes – you can level the top and then split each cake equally in
two.
Take the bottom half
of the 9” cake (two layers of the four), flip it over so that the bottom of the
cake is facing upwards and, using the 7” board as a guide carve the sides of
the cake at an angle so that the bottom will sit on the 7” board, tapering
evenly out to 9” at the second layer of buttercream/filling.
Take the top quarter
of the cake (one layer of the four) and repeat the carving using the 8” board
only this time keep the cake facing upwards – you want to carve the top.
Place the cake on the 7” hardboard.
Using the 8” cake and
the 6” board, carve the top two layers in a tapered fashion as before for the
bear’s shoulders. Place this cake on the
8” hardboard.
Remove the 6” board
from the top of the cake and carve a little more away from the top edge, giving
a rounded top.
Make the buttercream
for filling and crumb-coating - beat 500 g butter, 1 kg icing sugar and 1 tsp
vanilla extract together until soft, light and fluffy. Use to sandwich the layers of each of the two
‘body’ cakes together or use a combination of buttercream and raspberry jam, if
preferred. Dowel the bottom cake (on the
7” hardboard) before stacking the upper cake (on the 8” hardboard) on top. Cover the cake closely with cling film and
leave overnight to settle before crumb-coating.
Torte and fill the
ball cake for the head as before and place on the 4” round cake card. If the cake doesn’t sit level on the card
trim a small slice off the bottom. Cover
with cling film and leave to settle.
The following day,
spread a thin layer of buttercream over the body of the bear and place on the
covered cake board, towards the back of it to allow room for his legs at the
front. Dowel the top part of the body.
Stick the head to
the body and form ears, nose and chin from white chocolate paste and stick in
place, as shown.
Form legs, feet and
arms from white chocolate paste or cake trimmings and stick to body.
At this stage, you can also insert dowels into the arms to
hold them in place so long as you inform the recipient that they are there.
Make buttercream for
piping – cream 500 g butter and 500 g sifted icing sugar together until light
and creamy. Place 170 g caster sugar and
2 tbsp Meriwhite in a separate bowl, pour on 125 ml boiling water and whisk
until stiff. Fold this meringue into the
butter/icing sugar mix, adding vanilla extract to taste. Leave this aside and make another batch of
exactly the same quantity (the mixer bowls aren’t big enough to mix the entire
quantity needed in one go) and mix both batches together in a large bowl. Colour to the desired shade with the paste
colours. Place a small amount of the
buttercream in a piping bag fitted with the Wilton grass/fur nozzle.
Pipe the buttercream
all over the bear – squeeze the piping bag lightly against the cake then pull
the nozzle away – repeat until he is completely covered. Do not underestimate the time this will take
– make sure you have several hours free!
Make the bandana with spots in the same way as you covered
the board with sugarpaste, cut to size and place on the bear’s head then use
the black paste to make eyes, nose, mouth and buttons if required.
You can also make a
miniature Pudsey from small ball cakes – a 50mm and 70mm sphere, covered in
sugarpaste. Arms, legs, ears and
features were also made from sugarpaste.
