'...And These Lil' Piggies Had a Mud Tub Party' Cake

Our friend Stella loves pink, pigs, chocolate, and marzipan. So, it was pretty easy planning her cake. It had to have pink, pigs, chocolate, and marzipan. Surprise, Stella Bella! D did a great job on the cake.

Cake Components

2 layers Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake (click name to go to the original recipe post)
1 layer Marzipan Cake (see below)
2 batches Simple Chocolate Frosting
Fondant Pigs
2 7-ounce tubes almond paste
pirouette rolled wafers (I used almost 2 full canisters to go around an 11" cake)
3 yards of 2-1/2" ribbon

Ingredients for the Marzipan Cake

1 7-ounce tube almond paste
1/4 C butter, softened
1/2 C organic granulated sugar
1 C ground almonds
2 eggs
1/4 t organic hazelnut extract
1/4 t organic chocolate extract
1 C flour
1 t baking powder

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and line an 11" cake pan with parchment paper.

Cream the almond paste with the butter and sugar. Mix in the ground almonds. Beat the eggs slightly with hazelnut and chocolate extracts and add to the creamed mixture.

Combine the flour and baking powder and fold into butter mixture. Mix with as few strokes as possible.

Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The cake is done when it is lightly browned and firm to the touch.

To Assemble...
Slice the cake layers in half so that you have 6 thin layers. Roll the almond pastes into circles, approximately 10" diameter.

Lay a chocolate layer on your serving platter. Alternate: chocolate layer, chocolate frosting, chocolate layer, chocolate frosting, almond paste, marzipan cake, chocolate frosting, marzipan cake, chocolate frosting, almond paste...you get the idea.

Once your cake is assembled, frost the tops and sides. Press pirouette wafers around the side to create the wooden sides of the tub.