Funky Birthday Cake

To make the stars on wires, punch out the shapes in rolled sugarpaste, put a dab of edible gum on the end of a piece of cake wire, insert carefully into the star, then leave to dry.

The spheres are done in the same way except they are threaded onto the wire at regular intervals, four or five to a wire, gummed in place and left to dry.

The 'ribbons' are made from strips of rolled sugarpaste about 8-10cm long, looped round the handle of a wooden spoon (to keep their shape) then the two ends pressed together and a short gum-dipped wire inserted into the joined ends. Leave to dry.

For the half moon shapes on the cake, cut out a circle of rolled sugarpaste, then use the cutter to cut away part of it. The stars and circles on the cake itself can be stuck by moistening slightly with water and pressed into place.

For the age numbers, take pieces of different coloured rolled sugarpaste with smooth cut edges and lay them tightly together to form a sheet. Roll lightly so that they join and look smooth. Use gum if you need to. If you want, punch out a few little shapes and fill the gaps with identical shapes of a different colour. Cut out cardboard templates of the numbers you want, place them on the sugarpaste sheet and cut round. Insert short piece of wooden kebab stick into the base of each number, using gum. Leave to dry.

To get your sugarpaste a nice even thickness, use two strips of cardboard and place the sugarpaste between them. Roll over the cardboard guides and that's the thickness of paste you will get.

Enjoy!