Brown curly haired pup cake

Bake the three layers of cake according to the recipe instructions. Level, fill and frost your cake to the crumb coat stage with the chocolate buttercream. Chill the cake in the fridge or freezer for 20 minutes to set the buttercream.

Frost the top of the cake only with a second coat of buttercream, smoothing as best you can to create a nice, flat surface for your pup’s face. Chill the cake again for 20 minutes to set the buttercream.

Starting from the bottom edge of your cake, hold the piping bag at a 90-degree angle against the cake. Pipe your first rosette. Pipe the next rosette on top of the tail of the first one. Continue along, creating a line of rosettes all the way around the cake.

Begin your next row of rosettes and pipe all the way around the cake. Continue piping the rosette rows until you reach the top of the cake.

Clean and dry your hands completely. Using a little bit of cornflour to prevent stickiness, roll out the white sugarpaste to about 3mm (1/8in) thick. Punch out two white cheeks with the circle cookie cutter.

Roll the pink sugarpaste into a ball; flatten gently with your fingers and pull slightly to create a thick, flat, oblong shape for the tongue. Using a small knife, carefully indent the centre (don’t cut through the tongue!).

Divide the brown sugarpaste into two pieces for the ears. Roll each piece into a ball. Gently flatten one and curve the sugarpaste so it resembles a thick, rounded 'U' shape. Insert a wooden skewer into one end of the 'U' shape. Repeat with the other ball and wooden skewer.

Reserve a small portion of black sugarpaste for the eyebrows and a 1cm (½in) ball for the nose. With the rest of the black sugarpaste, create two eyes with white highlights following the instructions to the right. Create a nose following the instructions to the right. Finally, roll out two thick snakes for eyebrows.

Hold the black edible marker upright at a 90-degree angle above the white sugarpaste circles. Pressing the marker directly into the sugarpaste, create a freckle. Make three freckles on each circle (or however many you wish).

Place the sugarpaste features onto the top of the chilled cake, keeping in mind that you will do a final piping of curly hair on top afterwards. Place the eyes at about 10 and 2 o’clock; press lightly to adhere them to the buttercream. Add the eyebrows in a rainbow shape to maintain the pup’s happy demeanor. Add the white cheeks, then use a dab of buttercream to attach the nose on top. Nestle the tongue in between the cheeks, pressing in lightly to adhere it to the buttercream underneath.

Next, pick up your piping bag once again and begin piping a circle of rosettes at the very edge of the top of the cake. Pipe a 'curly widow’s peak' of hair onto the pup’s face, with curly buttercream tendrils coming down between the pup’s eyes.

Now, gently push the ear skewers into the sides of the cake. I like the floppy-eared look, which works best just below the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions.

Using a pair of scissors, cut a bone shape from a piece of white craft paper. Using a marker, write 'Happy Birthday', or the message of your choice. Tape the paper bone to a wooden skewer and insert it into the cake.

To make a sugarpaste mouth I use a small amount of black sugarpaste – a 3mm (1/8in) ball rolled into a snake-like shape, then curved into a smile. For whiskers, you can define the length and shape to your exact liking. I roll small pieces of black sugarpaste into long, thin whiskers. I often set my whiskers on sugarpaste cheeks. Using a small amount of cornflour as needed to prevent stickiness, roll out the white sugarpaste to a 3mm (1/8in) thickness. Using a circle cutter, punch out two circle shapes for the cheeks, then adhere your whiskers to the cheeks with a tiny amount of water. I generally use a piece of pink or black sugarpaste (the colours animal noses tend to be) about 3mm (1/8in) in size to make the nose. Roll it into a ball, then flatten it slightly to a 5mm (¼in) thickness with your fingers while gently pulling it into your preferred shape – a triangle nose with nostril indents or even just a simple oval, Hello Kitty style!

The amount of sugarpaste you use for eyes depends on how big or small you want the eyes to be. I like to use black sugarpaste for eyes, but if you’re emulating a beloved pet, feel free to customise! I like to make medium-sized eyes, which use balls about 2.5cm (1in) diameter. Form two equal-sized balls, then press each ball down gently to flatten to about 5mm (¼in) thickness. You can use a toothpick tip’s worth of water to adhere tiny white sugarpaste highlights to the eyes.