Easter Basket Cake Tutorial from Blue Door Bakery
Easter Basket Cake Tutorial: Create an adorable Easter basket with this project by Dani Brazier from Blue Door Bakery.
FOR THE CAKE
• cake of your choice • buttercream TO DECORATE • mini chocolate eggs • brown modelling paste • pastel sprinkles
EQUIPMENT
• mini cake stand or 7cm (3in) cake drum • 5cm (2in) round circle cutter • palette knife • piping bags
• piping nozzles: grass, basketweave
• cocktail sticks 
ASSEMBLE AND COVER THE CAKE
1. Cut out circles of cake using the round cutter. Secure one onto your mini cake stands or cake drum using a blob of buttercream.
2. Stack the rounds with buttercream, then add a crumb coat of buttercream around the cake – this is a thin layer of buttercream to seal the crumbs onto the cake. Pop the cake in the fridge to firm up for 20 minutes.
TOP TIP: Make your buttercream really soft as it is so much easier to use on such a small cake.
3. Next, mix up some brown buttercream, or you could make chocolate buttercream if you prefer not to add colour. Add this to a piping bag fitted with the basketweave nozzle.
PIPE THE BASKET
4. Begin by piping a vertical line, then pipe horizontally across the vertical line just coming little wider. Pipe another vertical line next to this and more horizontal lines in the gaps, as shown. Repeat this process all around the cake.
5. Once you have finished your basketweave around the cake, set the piping bag aside. Mix up a little green buttercream and add it to another piping bag fitted with a grass nozzle.
6. Begin by squeezing out buttercream on the top to attach the grass to the cake, then slowly pipe up and release the pressure. Repeat all over the top of the cake.
7. Pipe a row of the basketweave around the top of the cake, to finish the basket.
MAKE THE HANDLE
8. Make the handle by rolling some brown paste into a ball, then continue rolling out into a sausage shape. Fold over in half and twist together, adding a little glue if needed to hold the twist in place. You can use a cake smoother to roll the twist together if it helps.
9. Bend the twist over and trim to the height you need. Add a cocktail stick onto each end, then insert into the cake. Leave it to dry for a few hours first if it is too floppy.
10. Finish off with chocolate mini eggs and pastel sprinkles on top.
