When it’s that special day for a special someone, you want to pull all the stops out and make sure they celebrate in style. When that special someone is a casino-goer and high-roller, there’s no better way to mark the occasion than a made-to-measure cake in keep with their favourite theme. You can let your imagination run loose and decorate a basic vanilla sponge in whatever way you think they’d like, or whatever game they have a particular penchant for! Here we give you a recipe for the tastiest vanilla sponge you can imagine, and some nifty decorating ideas to surprise everyone.
Ingredients for vanilla sponge:
250g self-raising flour
250 grams margarine/unsalted butter
250 grams caster sugar
5 drops vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons milk
Method:
Line a round cake tin (or if you plan on making a different shaped cake, such as a playing card-shaped cake, use a square or rectangular tin, though you can always cut the cake afterwards) with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 160ºC whilst you do your cake preparation.
Sift together the flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl, then add the eggs and stir in well. Soften the butter until it is soft but not melted, and add into the mixture, mixing well, then add the sugar, vanilla extract and milk, and mix well until it forms a creamy batter.
Pour carefully into the lined cake tin and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until lightly golden on the top and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack, and leave to cool before decorating.
Playing card cake
Instead of using a round tin, use a rectangular one, or square one, and cut the bottom off to form a neat rectangle, which you can then cover in a layer of white royal icing (the ready-rolled one is probably the easiest) which you can then decorate with cake decorating pens, to adorn in the style of a lucky card, or one that makes a reference to the age or birthday. You may want to use different coloured icing to achieve the hearts or clubs on a large cake, unless you have extreme faith in your drawing abilities.
Roulette wheel cake
Make the most of your round cake, and turn it into an edible roulette wheel! Just paint the numbers on to a layer of white or black icing, even if they’re a bit wonky, and make a small ball out of leftover icing, to serve on the side on the cake platter. You can even have a go at spinning it if you’re brave enough.
Poker chips cake(s)
Make smaller, round cakes, and lay them out on a giant tray, and decorate them like different value poker chips! Use different coloured icing to cover each, then use gold paint to draw on a band and then the other pens in the pack to add some detail, like the casino name (Casino Bob if it’s Bob’s birthday, for example).
Dice and card cake
If you have a glut of cake tins, then fill a square one up right to the top to get a cube-shaped cake, and make a large rectangular one to go beneath, it and cover them both in white icing. Using simple maltesers stuck into the different sides of the cube you can create and effective dice, and decorate the rectangular one like a playing card (see above) and pile the dice onto the playing card to make a lovely casino-themed ensemble.