FREDDO FROG GRAVITY DEFYING CAKE

I used.....

1 cardboard cake board at least 12 inch square
1 piece plywood cut the same size as the cake board
1 piece dowel approx 1/2 inch wide x 14 inches long
1 screw
3 pins
super glue
ribbon
1 unfilled sponge cake from Woolworths supermarket
3 punnets strawberries
4  packets freddo frogs
900 mls thickened cream
strawberry jam
strawberry essence
1 cup icing sugar
pink food coloring


start by screwing the dowel to the middle of the boards. plywood on the bottom. the cake is heavy so it needs the plywood base.

I wrapped a little plastic wrap around the dowel to the height of the cake.

whip the cream with the icing sugar , strawberry essence to taste and a 4 drops pink food colour.

cut the sponges in half lengthwise and place the bottom sections on each side of the dowel. give both sides of the cake a little push in so the edges meet around the dowel.

spread some jam on each bottom then some cream thickly over the jam. sandwich the tops of the sponge to the bottoms, again a little push to make them join.

cover the sponges with the rest of the cream..top and sides.

cut enough strawberries in half to go around the bottom of the cake then using 2 packets, place  the freddo frogs ( out of the wrappers) around the sides, sitting on top of the strawberries. the cream will hold them there.

place a ribbon around the frogs to make sure they stay in place. I cut to size and use a pin to keep ribbon in place. I formed a bow with another piece of ribbon and pinned it over the join.

cover most of the top of the cake with strawberries, leaving about an inch or so clear around the dowel.

using scissors, cut the top off 1 packet of frogs with a nice even cut, this one goes on top of the dowel.

starting in the clear gap place a flat layer of frogs (in the wrappers), then starting at the bottom of the dowel start gluing the frogs to the dowel. Use 1 drop of glue to 1 corner of the wrapper and hold in place till set.  should only take about 20 seconds. I fit 3 frogs around the dowel. keep moving up the dowel with a layer of frogs overlapping each layer till you reach the top.

I glued 2 frogs to the top, one each side on about a 90 degree angle so as to hold the packet up. the packet wont stick with the super glue so I used a pin to hold it in place, pushing it through the wrappers. having an after thought, sticky tape would probably work as well. place some more frogs around the bottom of the dowel and over the cake.  no glue needed. refer to pic.

NOTE: this is the first time I have made  this cake so it was basically hit and miss. All the other gravity defying cakes use m and m's or maltesers and join them with chocolate, so I had to improvise. I thought it turned out quite well. Anyway you can use store bought or home made cake. same with the icing. use what ever you prefer. the main thing for this cake is the dowel in the centre of what ever size board you wish to use. you need the super glue to hold the weight of the frogs.