AWW Children's Birthday Cake Book - Hickory Dickory Clock

Cake 2 out of the Australian Women's Weekly Childrend's Birthday Cake Book - Hickory Dickory Clock!

So start with one rectangular butter cake (I had to go hunting around for a tin the right size and found one at Woollies).

I tried making a meniscus...

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

It didn't help much..

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

Turned it out to cool

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

Once cooled, cut out bits of it to make the clock shape.  I probably cut too much off the sides.

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

They said to mix a tablespoon of cocoa powder with a tablespoon of water in three quarters of the Vienna cream to brown it up.. but it made it way too dark, I think probably only a teaspoon of each would be enough.

I also dropped the single drop of magenta food colouring into some water so I could control the amount of pink in the pink quarter of the icing.  I really didn't need much!

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

I started with the chocolate icing

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

Then filled in the pink stuff

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

This is two packs of Smarties.  I would have needed another three or four to get enough pink ones..

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

I just used my own colouring instead

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

Next I used the black "writing icing" to write out the licorice bits (we both hate licorice).  But it's a gel so it goes everywhere.  Not ideal.  Also, Chris didn't have Freckles, but even if he did they wouldn't have fitted, so I just used cachous instead.

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

You'll note there are no prune mice, because as I've said previously, we're not fans; or licorice bullets, because we both hate licorice.

This is what it's supposed to look like... 

Hickory Dickory Clock cake

Nailed it..? ;)