Re-roll the trimmings and cut out more shapes then place them well spaced apart on a couple of baking trays. Pop the trays in the freezer for twenty minutes while you heat up the oven. Cover each mini sponge with a thin layer of buttercream. You’ll find our buttercream recipe and top tips on our blog. Press icing into the mould (select your colour depending on the animal – use the main image on this blog as a guide) to create the features for each creature.

The birthday girl wanted to help with the frosting so I piled some on top for her to spread, then I made sure to take it down the sides once she was done. Remember, since this is a rustic cake you want to make sure that the chocolate cake peeks through the sides. I made this woodland birthday cake a while ago for my daughter’s 7th birthday. She absolutely adores animals and nature so the forest theme suited her perfectly.Trim the tops of the cake layers to level them then place one layer on a serving platter or board. Spread over a thin layer of the buttercream then pipe a wide ring of buttercream around the edge of the cake - make it twice as wide as pictured as my cake wasn't very sturdy! Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, then pour in the egg mixture and beat until just smooth. I made only this one small batch of buttercream which was just enough for the whole cake, as I only used it as a dam for the filling and to thinly frost the outside. That is the bonus of naked cakes – less frosting! I know I’m not the only one who scrapes the frosting off when eating cake. This way you just scrape it off from the start. 😉 Heat gently while stirring until the coconut oil/margarine has melted. Whisk in cinnamon, ginger, cloves and bicarbonate of soda then stir in plain flour. Spread a layer of buttercream over the top and sides of the cake then top with the gingerbread animals and trees, some chopped nuts, sprigs of rosemary, pumpkin seeds and sugared cranberries. You will need to use some wooden skewers to prop the trees on top of the cake up.

The animal cutters I used are all from Ikea, apart from the leaping fox one which is from Rex London, though I don't think that they sell it any more. You will also need some tree shaped cutters. Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the TOP of the final cake layer and place it on the cake upside down to give you a flat surface.Add golden syrup, treacle, sunflower oil and boiling water to the bowl and whisk until no lumps of flour remain. Whisk together vegetable shortening and dairy free cream cheese (full fat varieties only! I used Asda's own brand one) until smooth. Next, I made a batch of cherry pie filling to put in the centre. Next time I think I would add a layer of ganache as well to give it that extra oomph of flavour (you can never have too much chocolate in my book!).