This incredible pizza cake is a two-layer Victoria sponge, filled with jam and buttercream and covered with sugar paste to look like a classic pizza! And the good news is, I've created a full step-by-step tutorial with pictures so that you can create it yourself!
Add the eggs and vanilla to the bowl, along with a couple of spoonfuls of the flour to prevent curdling. Beat until you have a smooth, thin batter.
Sift the remaining flour into the bowl and gently fold through until the flour is entirely incorporated. Don’t over-mix.
Grease and line two loose-bottomed, straight-sided, 20cm cake tins, then divide the batter evenly between them and level off.
Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until the cakes are risen and gently golden.
Allow to cool on a wire rack until cool enough to handle, then release the cakes from their tins and return them to the wire rack to cool completely.
If necessary, once cool, you can trim the very tops of your cakes off to allow them to sit flat.
To fill and assemble
In a fresh bowl, beat your vanilla, icing sugar (powdered sugar) and butter together until light, fluffy and significantly increased in volume.
Take a completely flat board or plate, at least 25cm in diameter and spread a thin layer or frosting onto the center to help stop your cake from sliding around.
Place one of your cakes top down on the board, then spread with half the remaining frosting.
Spread the jam on top of the frosting – you might not need all of it.
Place your second cake on top of the jam, again top-down to give nice clean edges.
Use the remaining frosting to cover the whole cake in a thin layer.
Now place your cake in the freezer to firm up the frosting while you prepare the covering. If you don’t have room in the freezer, a cold fridge will do.
To cover
Knead your white sugar paste, yellow sugar paste and cocoa together until you have a brown sugar paste.
Roll the brown sugar paste out to for a disc about 35cm in diameter. It’s easiest to do this between sheets of baking paper, or on a cornflour dusted surface.
Lay your sugar paste over the cake and allow the sides to drop down.
Working gently, ease and smooth the sugar paste down the sides of the cake until fully covered and trim off any excess at the base.
Use your fingertips to press around the circumference of the pizza to create a ‘crust’.
For the tomato layer
Roll out 100g red sugar paste very thinly so it is a little wider than your cake.
Place the sugar paste on top of the cake and allow it to slightly ruffle and overlap as you do so – this helps it resemble tomato sauce.
For the cheese
Use about 40g yellow sugar paste to form 8 small balls, then roll them out very thinly and unevenly. Place them on top of the pizza to resemble melted cheese.
For the olives
Roll out about 10g icing and cut out little circles, then use a straw to cut the holes from the centre and create the look of sliced black olives. Scatter onto the cake.
For the basil leaves
Roll about 20g green sugar paste out very thinly and cut out a few shapes to resemble basil leaves.
Use your knife to score a little vein detail onto each leaf and then arrange on the cake.
For the mushrooms
Use some of your brown sugar paste off cuts mixed with a little white sugar paste to give a mushroom shade.
Roll out thinly and then cut our mushroom shapes with a sharp knife. Arrange on the cake.
For the pepperoni
Mix about 25g red sugar paste with a tiny bit of black to create a darker red.
Roll out quite thickly, then dot all over with tiny balls of white sugar paste.
Roll out a little more to flatten the white sugar paste, then cut out discs to resemble slices of pepperoni. Arrange on the cake.
For the pepper
For a final touch, grab a fine grater and a little black sugar paste and grate it over the cake to resemble black pepper.
To finish
You can now make final alternations to your pizza. I recommend squeezing the crust from above and underneath at this stage to give it a perfect pizza shape.
Your pizza cake is now ready to cut into slices and enjoy!
Video
Notes
If you prefer, you can use white sugar paste and colour the appropriate proportions using gel food colouring. Just place a few drops into the centre of your sugar paste and knead until the colour is evenly distributed. Don't forget to wash and dry your hands between colours to prevent them mixing. You may wish to wear gloves.