Princess and the Pea Cake

I always loved the classic fairy tale of 'The Princess and the Pea,' where the mysterious Princess couldn't sleep because she could feel the pea under her bed, despite the fact that she was sleeping on 20 mattresses. The Prince fell in love with her as he knew that only a real and very special and sensitive Princess would have known that the pea was there...

The beauty of this cake is that you don't have to bake it!

Ingredients

To Decorate

Directions

1. Cut the cakes in half lengthwise and vertically. Spread jam thinly on one of the cut sides and put the frosting on top, then sandwich them together. Set the cakes on their sides on a board, side by side. Trim the tops level so that the cakes fit together snugly to form a rectangle approx 7 x 9 inches.
2. Tint three quarters of one of the packages of rolled fondant pink by kneading in pink food coloring one drop at a time. Knead the remainder of that roll into the second package of white fondant.
3. Dust the work surface with confectioners' sugar and roll out half of the white fondant to 11 by 13 inches. Warm 3 tbsp of apricot jam in the microwave (or small saucepan) until runny, and brush over the cakes. Cover the cakes with the white fondant and trim away excess icing. Fold the four corners of icing to make it look like a folded sheet.
4. Use a golf ball size piece of the remaining icing to make a pillow. Make a rectangle shape with a slight dent in a centre, and stretch out edges to make frilled edges for a pillow. Place on the cake.
5. To make a comforter, dust the work surface with confectioners' sugar and roll out the remaining white fondant to approx 10 x 11 inches, slightly thicker than the sheet. Also roll out the white fondant to roughly about 9 x 10 inches. Put the pink fondant on top of the white fondant, leaving one inch on one side. Fold the one inch of white fondant on top of the pink comforter.
6. Place the doll on the bed and cover with the pink comforter. Create drapes around the edges of the bed and trim away any excess fondant. Using the remaining apricot jam and a small brush, attach the sugar flowers; spread the sugar sprinkles around the flowers.

7. Use the remaining pink and white trimmings to make a pair of slippers and place on the cake board. Finally, using some drops of green food color, make a small pea and tuck it under the mattress.