Musical lover's chocolate celebration cake.

This two-tier celebration cake is perfect for a musical themed birthday party. I have painted the names of the musicals on the board with food colour but an easier option would be to order the musical logos with an online company which produces edible cake toppers.

Ingredients for bottom tier

This tier is a 10" chocolate Victoria sponge

454g/1Ib margarine

454g/1Ib caster sugar

8 eggs

400g/14oz self-raising flour

55g/2oz cocoa powder 

1 tablespoon warm water

 Method

1. Preheat oven to 180oC/fan oven 160oC/350F/Gas mark 4, then grease and line, three 10" round tins.
2. Sieve the flour and cocoa powder together into a bowl, then crack the eggs into a jug and whisk lightly with a fork. Place the margarine and caster sugar into a mixing bowl, cream together using an electric whisk. Then beat in some of the egg, then afterwards mix in a tablespoon of the flour cocoa powder mix, to try and avoid curdling, carry on doing this until all the egg has gone. Add the remaining flour and cocoa powder and the warm water, then gently fold in. I find using my hand is the best utensil for this! 
3. Fill the tins, then level over (a wet hand, helps with obtaining a flatter surface). Then bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the sponge has come away from the side of the tin and is springy to touch. Leave in the tin to cool for five minutes, then turn out onto a rack and leave to cool.

Ingredients for top tier

This tier is a 6" vanilla Victoria

175g/6oz margarine

175g/6oz caster sugar

3 eggs

175g/6oz self-raising flour

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp warm water

Method

Grease and line three 6" round tins, or use two and fill one tin with double the mix to the other, then cut through the centre when baked and cooled. Then follow the method for the 10" bottom tier, but bake for approximately 15-20 minutes.

Filling

225g/8oz butter or margarine

454g/1Ib icing sugar(sieved)

55g/2oz cocoa powder

a splash of vanilla essence

strawberry jam

1. Cream the butter and icing sugar together, until soft. Then take about one quarter away and beat the vanilla essence into it, then sieve the cocoa powder into the other larger portion and cream in.
2. Place cakes on boards.
3. Spread jam and the vanilla buttercream on two of the 6" bases and sandwich together. Level top and sides with a knife. Then mask all over with any remaining buttercream, before covering with clingfilm and leaving to settle for an hour. Repeat with the 10" cake but using the chocolate buttercream this time, instead of jam and vanilla buttercream. 

Decorating

14" round drum

6" round drum

454 g/1Ib milk chocolate

200g/7oz white chocolate

Dr Oetkar chocolate stars

240g/8oz chocolate sugarpaste

240g/8oz white sugarpaste

gum tragacanth

edible glitter

selection of food colours

ribbon for board

three pieces of dowelling

gold lustre

1. Add a pinch of gum tragacanth to 100g/4oz of the chocolate sugarpaste and knead in, then roll out and cut out three stars, push a cocktail stick into the bottom of each. Paint on birthday greetings, using a paintbrush and the gold lustre, with a few drops of water added.
2. Colour, a very small amount of the sugarpaste into three or more different colours using the spectral paste, (to match the Smarties). Again add a small amount of gum tragacanth to each, then roll into small balls and stick onto cocktail sticks. Then along with the stars, put to one side to dry overnight.
3. Melt, the milk and white chocolate, (to avoid sugar bloom - tempering works best, but melting it over a saucepan of boiling water that has been taken off the heat, minimizes sugar bloom).
4. Smother the 10" cake in the milk chocolate, by piling the chocolate on top then smoothing it over the top and down the sides using a palette knife. Taking three pieces of dowelling, stick down through the cake in a triangle shape small enough to be hidden by the top tier once placed on top. Mark the sticking out bit with a pen, then pull the dowelling out and cut off excess with a knife. Push the bits you need, back into the holes left when pulled out. You should have created a level platform on which the top tier will sit. Smother the top tier with the white chocolate, then carefully using a palette knife underneath to lift it, place it on top of the other tier. Leave the two tier cake to dry slightly, then roll out the rest of the sugarpaste in a long strip, wet the exposed rim of the 14" cakeboard and cover it with the sugarpaste. Make a ball with the remaining chocolate sugarpaste and place in the centre of the top tier to stick the stars and round balls on sticks into. 
5. For the really fun bit - decorate the cake with the stars, smarties, curly ribbon, etc and decorate the board with musical logos. Then finish off, by adding some glitter and sticking on a board ribbon, using a Pritt stick.