Jungle Cake

How to make ganache: Stir dark-chocolate melts and cream in a bowl over simmering water until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for several hours until thick. Repeat with white chocolate melts and remaining cream. Divide mixture into 2 bowls and add drops of green food colour to make pale and dark green shades. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line 2 deep 20cm (base) spring-form pans.

To make one batter: Place half the butter, half the vanilla extract and half the sugar into a large bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until pale and creamy. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Fold in 1 1/2 cups of the flour and half the milk, in alternating batches, until well combined.

To make second batter: Repeat with remaining butter, vanilla, sugar and eggs. Sift remaining flour with cocoa and fold into mixture with remaining milk.

Drop spoonfuls of batter into pans, alternating between batters, swirling to create a marbled effect. Bake for 1 hour or until cooked when tested. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Make milk chocolate tree decorations, following our tips below.

To assemble the jungle cake: Sandwich the two marble buttercakes together, using about 1/4 of the dark chocolate ganache. Place the whole cake onto a cake plate. Spread remaining dark chocolate ganache over top and side of cake. Remove the chocolate tree decorations from the baking paper and arrange around cake, pressing into ganache to hold. Arrange remaining caramel bits around base of the cake. Roughly spread dollops of both pale and dark green-tinted white ganache over top of cake to make tree canopy. Add sweets and jungle animal toys as shown.