Spiderman Cake

Preheat your oven to 150°C (130°C fan, gas mark 2)  Grease and line a 10-11 inch oval cake tin with baking parchment.

Beat the butter and the sugar until they are light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and mix again.

In another bowl measure the flours and baking powder.

Whisk all the eggs and gradually beat into the sugar and butter mixture. Add a tablespoon of flour at a time to prevent the mixture from curdling, fold in the remaining flour with the hot water until smooth

Spread the mixture in the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes. Check to see if the cake is done by pressing a finger gently on the top. If it bounces back it is ready, if not it will leave an indent and needs a little longer.

To decorate the cake, thinly roll the white sugar paste icing and use to cover a very slightly dampened 14 inch cake board and leave it to dry for a day or two.

Make up the royal icing as directed on the pack and keep in an airtight container.

To make the buttercream, beat together the softened butter with sifted icing sugar, until light and creamy adding 1 tsp hot water if necessary. Store in an airtight container.

Cut the outer edges of the cake so it slopes down in a face like shape and carve a chin shape at the bottom. Cover with a thin layer of  buttercream.

Thinly roll the red sugar paste and use to cover the cake, then place the cake on the board - securing with a little royal icing. Position the cake towards the top of the board so there is plenty of room for cobweb details and the name decoration.

To make the eyes, roll out white sugar paste icing to around 3mm thick and cut out two tear shapes. Roll out some black icing then position the white eyes on top. Secure them together by lightly brushing with warm. Cut out a border from the black icing, around the white eyes border. Set aside while you ice the cobwebs on the mask.

To make the cobwebs on the face. Colour some royal icing with black food colouring and place it in a piping bag. Use a small nozzle so you can ice thin lines. Find the central point on the cake and ice lines across the mask from the central point out towards the outer edge of the cake and down the sides. Start the cobwebs by icing a curved line between each section. Continue around the central point until you reach the start point. Repeat icing curved lines at lower points around the cake until the whole mask resembles a cobweb.

Carefully position the eyes over the cobwebbed face while the black icing is still wet.

Use the remainder of the black royal icing to ice cobwebs on the cake board. Leave enough space to write the name.

Choose another colour royal icing to write the name and age of the recipient, if preferred.