​The history of a piñata is really interesting, it’s about the struggle against temptation in Spanish speaking countries. It was originally a pot in the shape of a seven pointed star representing the seven deadly sins hung up out of reach.The pot represented evil and it might have been filled with seasonal fruits or sweets. A person was blindfolded representing faith and given a stick to hit the star and hopefully break into the pot. Piñatas now are often in the shape of animals or toys and become a birthday party treat.

I have made all the components of a piñata cake many times and always promised myself to make one but never got around to it .
I almost made one for Easter thinking to fill it with mini eggs but was too busy, but with my grandson’s birthday coming up in June I thought it would be good to give him a surprise cake.

What you will need
6 x 9 inch ( 23cm) tins
You can use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer
A thick cake board at least 28cm diameter
A 7 or 9cm scone cutter
Offset spatula
Cake plain edge plastic side scraper ( you can buy a PME 8 x 3.7 one online for £3.99)
Disposable piping bags
A piping nozzle Wilton 6 point 2D ( it pipes roses and swirls)

This cake is a simple all in one Victoria sponge recipe but the way it is put together turns it into a show stopper. There is the added bonus that when you cut out the circles from the middle of four of the sponge layers you can make a lovely miniature fresh cream cake or freeze the sponge to make the base for a trifle or make truffles.

340g eggs (out of shells)

• 340g caster sugar
• 300g soft margarine at room temperature
• 40g unsalted butter at room temperature 340g self raising flour plus a little for dusting the baking pans.
  
• 10g baking powder
  
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• All the ingredients should be at room temperature
  

Buttercream
I always use a good quality unsalted butter. 
Sufficient for a 3 tier 23cm round cake

• 600g icing sugar, sifted
  
• 200g unsalted butter at room temperature
  
• 50g cream cheese at room temperature
  
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  
• 1 jar of raspberry jam
  
• Add colourings and flavours needed for the recipe if you choose not to make a vanilla sponge

Adding a little cream cheese helps the buttercream taste less sweet.

Method for making the buttercream 
Place the butter in the stand bowl or a large mixing bowl and beat on high for 2 minutes and then add the cream cheese and beat for a further 2 minutes.

Beating on medium gradually add the icing sugar a desert spoon at a time until fully incorporated, turn up to full and beat for 10 minutes until light and fluffy. Lastly add the vanilla extract. Set aside at room temperature until ready to assemble the cake.

Variations 
When you make buttercream you can add almost any flavours and here are some that go well together in cakes,tray bakes and cupcakes

• Chocolate buttercream
• 100g plain chocolate chips 70% cocoa butter +1 tablespoon of water
• 60g unsalted butter
• 50g cocoa powder
• 150g icing sugar sifted
  
• 1 egg yolk
  
• Place the the chocolate and water in a heavy pan stirring continuously until melted, set aside to cool slightly.

Beat the butter, cocoa powder and icing sugar until light and fluffy.
Best in the egg yolk and then the melted chocolate, if the icing is a little slack add another 1-2 tablespoons of icing sugar, not much more as the icing will cool to a thicker consistency.

There are many more variations so why not play with some of your favourite flavours.

Ganache for the drip

• 100gm dark chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate
  
• 75ml double cream

Method for making the ganache
Place the chocolate in a small bowl.
Heat the cream in a pan until it begins to bubble, take off the heat and pour over the chocolate and leave for 5-10 minutes .
Stir the chocolate mixture to make a glossy ganache. Set aside to cool a little. When it is time to add the ganache to the cake and it has set too much to be “dripped “ down the cake it can be placed in a microwave for one minute on medium heat to make it soft enough to drip

To make the cake
Method
Set the oven 160C, 180C, gas mark 4.
1.Grease and line the baking tins, you can use butter or vegetable oil , I use silicon circles in the bottom of my tins and only grease the sides.
2.Weigh the eggs into a bowl and then add the same weight of all the other ingredients, and beat them for one minute then allow to rest for one minute then beat for two minutes with a hand-mixer or in a stand mixer.
3.To make sure every cake is the same place  227g of mixture into each tin, zeroing your scales between each one.
4.Bake in the oven for 30 minutes before checking if they are too noisy then put them back in the oven for another 2 minutes and that should do it.They usually are baked after 35 minutes.
5.Place The tins on a cooling rack to cool for two minutes and then transfer the cakes to cool completely on the racks.

To assemble the cake
Place the cake board on the turntable, place a desert spoon of buttercream on the board and spread a little to stick the first layer of cake on the board.
Spread 2 tablespoons of jam on the cake to within 2cm of edge of the cake.
Place the cutter in the middle of the next cake layer and cut out a circle ,place this on the base cake and spread jam on this layer. Repeat this with 3 more layers, you should have one layer left for the top.
Pour m-n-ms into the cake until the cavity is full then place the last cake layer on top.
Use a palette knife to cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream, around the sides and top of the cake filling any gaps between sponges, but don’t worry about completely covering the sponges at this stage ( use 1/3 of the icing to do this).
This is called a crumb coat and ensures that your final layer is crumb-free. Make space in your fridge and chill the cake for 30 mins to firm up the icing.

Once the icing is chilled, use another 1/3 icing to completely cover the cake. This is easiest if you pile the icing on top of the cake, then use a palette knife to ease it over the edge and down the sides. You can make it as smooth or as rough as you like. If you wish use a cake scraper as this gives smoother sides .Chill for another 30 mins.

When the ganache is the correct consistency, remove the cake from the fridge and place the ganache in a piping bag and snip off the end or give a small hole to drizzle over the top edge of the cake. If you hold the bag at a slight angle it will encourage it to drizzle down the side, as the cake is chilled it will prevent it from running down completely and pooling on the cake base.
Tip- start at the back of the cake to get the hang of it. Fill in the middle of the top of the cake with a thin layer of chocolate too.

Place the piping nozzle into a disposable piping bag and half fill with the remaining buttercream.
Holding the bag vertically about 3 cm above the cake pipe 12 swirls around the top of the cake.
Finally place an m-n-m onto each swirl of buttercream and scatter a few more over the middle of the cake