How to Make a Platinum Jubilee Showstopper Cake

Cover your cake with red ready-to-roll icing and trim away any excess icing around the base -we've used a 6” cake.

Top Tip: it’s really useful to use a non stick icing rolling pin with guide rings for this project. It will ensure all your icing is the same thickness and give a professional finish.

Roll out white flower paste to approximately 3mm thick and use a ruler and a pizza wheel to cut out two strips 3cm wide and approximately 25cm long.

Attach the first strip around the base of the cake with a little cool, boiled water – it should fit halfway around the cake.

Cut the ends straight and attach the second strip around the rest of the base to form a band all the way around the cake.

Cut four more strips from the white flower paste, the same thickness and width and approximately 20cm long; these will form the top part of the crown.

Top Tip: Make sure to have some paper kitchen towel to hand which will be used to support the icing as it dries.

Attach one strip up the side of the cake and put a rolled-up piece of kitchen roll underneath it at the top. Attach the other end of the strip at the centre of the top of the cake and cut off any excess. Repeat with the other three strips, attaching them every quarter around the cake.

Leave the kitchen roll in place for a couple of hours or overnight until the flower paste has set hard.

Roll out a small round of flower paste and cut out a circle approximately 4cm diameter. Stick this on top of the centre of the cake to hide the joins. Add a 3cm ball of icing on top of this.

To top the crown, cut a 4.5cm square of flower paste, 4mm thick. Remove a section from each corner of the square using a daisy plunger cutter.

Carefully insert a wooden cocktail stick into one straight edge and leave the piece on a flat surface to dry and harden.

To decorate the sides of the crown, roll out strips of flower paste 3mm thin and 25cm long by approximately 8cm wide. Cut one long edge straight for the base. Stamp out a row of circles, evenly spaced, with a small piping nozzle about 2cm above the straight edge. Use the same nozzle to cut more circles higher up to make a series of 3-pointed shapes (a bit like the top of wrought iron railings).

This decorative strip can be cut to size to fit around the sides of the crown.

For extra dimension, cut another strip 2cm wide long enough to wrap around the crown and attach it to hide all of the joins.

All of the white parts of the crown are now ready to be painted a platinum colour! 

Mix up a teaspoon of silver lustre dust with a clear spirit like vodka or a clear extract like lemon to make an edible paint. Use a flat brush to cover all the flower paste with the paint and leave to dry.

For extra shimmer use a fluffy brush to dust on dry lustre powder over the painted areas and buff with a brush or your middle fingertip.

Top Tip: Protect the red icing from stray lustre dust particles by covering with paper kitchen towel.

Insert the cocktail stick with the icing square into the ball on top of the crown.

The crown is now ready to be adorned with jewels! You can use edible silver balls, small circles of icing or even sweets to decorate your crown – attach them in position with a little royal icing.

To create this tier you will need an 8” cake covered in white ready-to-roll icing.

Start by making the banner; take 125g of sapphire blue icing and knead in half a teaspoon of tylo powder. Do the same with poppy red icing.

Roll the blue icing out approximately 4mm thin into a long sausage shape, approximately 9cm x 20cm. Pick out the letter stamps for ‘Platinum’ and stamp this across the middle of your icing.

Use a ruler and a pizza wheel and/or craft knife to cut a banner shape around the word. Keep excess icing tightly wrapped up to be used later for the bunting.

Use your middle fingertip dipped into silver lustre powder to rub over the icing to make the wording stand out.

Repeat for the red icing and spell out the word ‘Jubilee’.

Carefully flip the banner over and apply a little stiff consistency royal icing to the middle and each end of the banner. Have some paper kitchen towel to hand – roll this up into four small rolls. Attach the banner to the front of the cake in a rippled fashion, using the rolls of kitchen towel to prop the banner from behind. Curl the ends of the banner to give it movement.

Repeat steps 10 to 13 to create a second banner, this time stamping the phrase ‘Jubilee’.

Leave the kitchen towels in place until the banners have set in place and hardened.

Use the bunting cutter (medium size) to cut red and blue triangles from the leftover icing. Attach these to the cake with a little water or royal icing on either side of the banners and all the way around the cake.

Gently tweak the ends of each flag to make them look like they are blowing in the wind.

For the bottom tier of the cake you'll need 10” diameter cake covered in white ready-to-roll icing.

You will also need a print-out of the Union Jack flag to work to, there are lots free options available online to choose from. Make sure to print the image the same size as the height of your cake.

Starting with the red cross of England, roll out red icing to 3mm thick (use the guide rings on your rolling pin to keep all icing consistent in thickness) and cut strips to size with a ruler and pizza wheel.

Attach them to the cake with water and trim excess with scissors.

Repeat step 17 to create the thin red strips and the blue triangles.

Top Tip: Lay each piece of icing on your template so you can check it for size and keep referring to the design when positioning the pieces on the cake.

Start with a sausage of white flower paste for the body – curve the body slightly.

Roll out thinly a piece of Teddy Bear Brown icing into a rough sausage shape, large enough to entirely cover one half of the body. Brush the shape with a little water and attach to the body.

Prop the body up on something like a rolling pin whilst you make the other body parts.

To make the back legs, create two flat circles of teddy bear brown icing and attach either side at the base of the body.

Make two white feet and use a veining tool or cocktail stick to make indentations for the paws. Attach these at the bottom of the body underneath the two flat circles.

To create the front legs, you will need two white sausage shapes bent at one end to form the feet. Make indentations for the paws again and cut the tops at an angle for attaching to the body. Stick these on either side of the body with the feet resting on the surface.

Shape two small patches of teddy bear brown icing to cover the joins where the front legs attach to the body.

For the Neck ruffle, shape a flat teardrop of white flower paste and cut a small circle from the wide end using a round cutter or nozzle.

Use a veining tool to score lines around the pointed end to give it fur-like texture.

Make another, smaller neck ruffle in the same way and attach both to the top front of the body, positioning the circles where the head will go.

Insert a wooden cocktail stick here for the head to sit on.

Add a small tail at the base of the body.

To make the Corgi’s head, take a ball of white flower paste and shape into a rugby ball. Gently tease out a snout shape for the face and use a craft knife to slice the snout open to make a mouth.

Open the mouth up and attach a small piece of pink icing inside.

Add a black triangle for the nose and use the end of a cocktail stick to poke tiny holes for the whiskers.

Mark where the eyes will go and attach two patches of Teddy Bear Brown icing.

Hollow out the eye sockets and insert two balls of white icing and then black dots for the pupils, two semi-circles of brown icing are attached for the eyelids, then add thin sausages of black icing to line the eyes and for eyebrows to finish the face.

To create the ears, flatten small pieces of brown icing into a teardrop shape, then pinch the ends to give the ears shape and attach to the top of the head with water.

Leave the head and body of the corgi to harden overnight before sitting the head on top of the body with the cocktail stick. Use a little royal icing to fix the head in place.

Adorn your finished cake with as many corgis as you like!