How to make a simple Piñata Birthday Cake

Since I discovered Pinterest, I've really stepped up my Birthday cake making game. It was the Smartie and Kit Kat cake that started it about a year ago, and I've also attempted a Rainbow Cake and a Pink Ombre cake. None of these cakes were nearly as difficult as they looked, and they all looked very impressive. So for a recent family Birthday I decided that I would have a go at a Piñata Cake. A Piñata Cake is a cake which is filled with sweets that tumble out as you cut into it. There are some very impressive ones on Pinterest, but I came up with a simple way of making one that worked really well.

You need a regular Victoria Sandwich sponge cake recipe. You need to double the quantities to make four layers. My simple (doubled) recipe is 12 oz margarine, 12 oz caster sugar, 6 eggs and 12 oz self-raising flour.

Remove the four cakes from the sandwich tins and allow to cool. Then cut a circular hole in two of them. Place a whole layer at the bottom, then the two layers with missing centres, using some butter icing to stick the layers together. Fill the hole in the centre with small sweets - I used Smarties and gummy bears. You do need quite a lot to fill the hole - I used two bags of Smarties and one of gummy bears with a few left over for decoration. You could also use chocolate sweets like Maltesers and Minstrels, or perhaps Skittles. Then place the final layer on top and ice over the top and sides. The sweets packed inside will mean that the cake holds its shape.

It's best not to make this cake too far in advance as the sweets may lose their colour after a couple of days inside the cake. Also, once you have cut into it and the sweets fall out it will begin to sag in the middle, so it needs eating up quickly, which is not a problem in this house!

This is a cake which is easy to make and will really impress both children and adults!