How to make a cute Hedgehog Cake with buttercream flowers as spikes.
This is an original cake design by Little Peach Cakery. I hope you enjoy creating your own little hedgehog cake.
You will need:
Sugarcraft tools – rolling pin, knife, cake smoother, ball tool, small rose petal or circle cutters.
A 5 inch round maderia cake, approx 5 inch tall and domed top.
8 inch cake board and ribbon
2 nifty nozzles, 2 drop flower tips
strong piping bags
Buttercream (1:2 butter and icing sugar)
Sugarpaste
Tylo powder or modelling paste
Food colour gel or paste
Edible glaze (optional)
Method:
1. Bake your cake, let it cool. Cut into 4 even layers.
2. To make the face of the hedgehog first add a little tylo to the sugarpaste to make modelling paste. Make a ball into a point and then with the point upwards squash the ball and use a small rolling pin to flatten the eye area. Cut the shape of the face out.
Make two pea sizes balls for the eyes. And a small square for the nose. I like to add a little edible food gloss to these.
The hands and feet are shaped and marked with a small knife.
I use two rose petal cutters for the ears. The larger using white modelling paste and smaller for cutting the pink modelling paste. I cut a few mm off the bottom of the ears where they will be glued onto the cake.
3. Add buttercream between the cake layers and add a thin coat of buttercream over the whole cake. Smoothing over the dome top. This can be natural dome or carved depending on how the cake has risen.
4. Roll out enough sugarpaste to cover half the cake. Smooth this over the front of the cake. Trim off any excess. Carefully transfer the cake onto a sugarpaste covered cake board.
5. Using edible glue attach the face and nose to the cake. You may want to use a cocktail stick to help hold in place.
6. Add the hands and feet using edible glue. Make a little hole as a belly button. Make 2 indents on the face and add the eyes.
7. Place the ears but do not attach yet. Make a note where they will sit and remove them for now.
8. Mix up several different colours of buttercream. You can add more than one colour to the piping bags to give different tones to the flowers. I like to make the smaller drop flowers white like daisies.
Tip: the buttercream needs to be firm but still able to pipe. Strong piping bags are needed. If the buttercream gets too warm whilst piping flowers pop it in the fridge for 5 mins and try again.
9. Start piping the nifty flowers onto the cake randomly. If you run out of buttercream try adding a different colour buttercream to the bag to give variety to the flowers.
10. Next add the drop flowers to any spaces between the larger flowers.
11. Glue the ears onto the cake.
12. Add a ribbon to the cake board.
And done! Of course you can use different nozzles to create the flowers. And use any colour combinations. I also use elderflower flavoured buttercream to add a more floral taste! I hope you enjoy creating your own cake. Thank you
Little Peach Cakery 
Love your tutorial, thank you for sharing it.
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Thanks so much! 🙂
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Looks absolutely beautiful. Thanks for sharini
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Thank you, I hope you get the chance to try making one 🙂
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Hi I was wondering what you used for the dome top and what are the dementions? And also where to get it?
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Hi Nikki, I just used the natural dome on the cake or if the cake doesn’t rise much then you can carve a little off the top edge to create a dome.
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Hi this is just so cute, simple and clever. I want to make one like that for my niece – she would love it.
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Thank you, you should try it for your niece! 🙂
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I love your hedgehog and will be attempting one this week to give my friend who retires from work. Can I ask roughly how much buttercream you used for the flowers? I also love your site and will be checking it regularly for tips etc thank you so much for sharing this with us all xxx
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Thank you Leila. If you are making a 5inch round cake for the hedgehog about 250g butter and 500g icing sugar would be enough I think. I hope your hedgehog goes well and that your friend loves it! X
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So, I was terrified of starting, petrified of stating to decorate but absolutely exhilarated at the result, you are a genius I absolutely loved making this. It’s not as sharp as yours but I love it. Wanted to send you a pic but not sure how to.. thank you so much for such a confidence boost and you were spot on with the 500g icing sugar xxxx
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I’m so glad you enjoyed making a hedgehog cake! Thank you for the lovely feedback. I would so love to see your cake. I am on instagram and facebook as @littlepeachcakery if that might be a way of sending a pic? Once again thank you x
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Oh my goodness! I am IN LOVE!!! This is probably the cutest cake I’ve ever seen! Thank you so much for taking the time to share – i know it’s a process on top of the making and decorating the cake process. I can’t get over how cute it is!!
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Thank you for your lovely comment. I’m really pleased you like my hedgehog cake design much! I hope you give it a try.
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I have made your hedgehog today and was so pleased how it turned out. Could I ask if you added anything extra to your Butter cream as I did find mine a bit too soft.
Many thanks.
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Thank you, I’m really happy to hear your hedgehog turned out so well.
When my buttercream becomes a too soft, I put the piping bag in the fridge for 5 – 10 mins to firm the buttercream.
On the other hand, if the buttercream is too firm I add a few tsp of milk.
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What a cute creation!! Absolutely love it~ May I ask how did you emboss the name with the cursive writing on the cake board? =)
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Thank you. I use acrylic stamps and paint the impression with edible paint. They are called Sweet Stamps by AmyCakes.
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Hi
Could you please give me the height of the cake before its got the flowers on. Mine seems a lot taller than yours and not so cute, I’ve used the same size tin.
Many thanks
Lyn 🤗
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Hi Llyn,
I baked the cake in a 5 inch round, 4 inch deep pan. I haven’t ever measured the height but I’m assuming it’s between 4 to 5 inches due to the tin size.
Best wishes,
Nicola
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Thank you so much for your reply, I will be trying it again soon 😊 x
Lyn x
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I love this and am attempting my own version this week. For the covering of the cake, you list sugar paste, could i use fondant instead?
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Hi April, yes sugarpaste is another name for fondant so it’ll be fine to use. Hope it goes well for you. Best wishes, Nicola
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Is this by chance, Hedgie, from Miss Jaster’s Garden? Written by NM Bodecker in 1972. Hedgie the hedgehog lives in a little corner of Miss Jaster’s garden. One morning nearsighted Miss Jaster mistakenly plants some seeds on Hedgie, who is asleep in the flowerbed. Before Hedgie knows it, flowers have sprouted among the quills on his back! It’s the happiest day of Hedgie’s life, his feet begin doing little dance steps and before you know it Hedgie dances out beyond the gate.
Your Hedgie is adorable!
https://purplehousepress.com/product/miss-jasters-garden/
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Hi Jill, I haven’t read that book but it sounds like an adorable story. I must have a read.
I’m glad you like my hedgehog cake design and that it brought back memories of the book for you. Best wishes, Nicola
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Georgeus!! For how much people max? Thanks!
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Hi Ana, I use a 5 inch cake for this hedgehog which serves about 8. I have also made a larger hedgehog that serves about 20.
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I just made this for my daughter’s 40th birthday she always loved hedgehogs as a child and is an avid knitter, so I made the little hedgehog knitting a sweater. It was so much fun to make. Thanks for the idea.
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Hi, aww that sounds absolutely adorable! If you’re on social media you could send me a pic of your cake, I’d love to see it @littlepeachcakery
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Hello, I have fallen in love with this cake and want to try make it for my daughters 2nd birthday soon. I’d like to make it dairy free, do you think I could still do the Russian piping effectively with dairy free buttercream? I’ve never done Russian piping before! It really is such a beautiful cake!
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Hi,
Thank you. Yes absolutely you can make this dairy free. I’ve done so several times. With dairy free butter, instead of using 250g butter to 500g icing sugar you’ll need to add more icing sugar or it’ll be too runny to pipe. Just mix and add a bit more at a time until its smooth enough to pipe but a little firm. Hope it goes well!
Nicola
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Thank you so much for your reply, that’s really good to know. I’ll look forward to giving it a go!
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Hello again,
I’m struggling to make the cake in a 5inch wide x 4inch deep pan. I’m using my usual recipe of 200g s/r flour, 200g sugar, 150g oil, 4 eggs and baking powder. Tried 190C for around 50 mins. I’ve never used a deep tin before, usually use 2 wide shallow sandwich tins. The cake keeps burning on top and not cooking in the middle. Any advice please? Thank you.
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