Brush the cake with apricot jam. Roll
out the marzipan, cover the cake and leave to dry overnight. Roll out
15g of the sugarpaste icing to fit the cake top. Brush the top with
water and cover with the icing.
Color 300 g of the icing brown and
roll out four pieces to the length and about 1 cm wider than the cake
sides. Brush the sides with water and cover with icing, folding over the
extra width at the top and cutting the corners at an angle to make the
picture frame. Place on a cake board. With a fine paintbrush, paint over
the sides with watered-down brown food coloring to represent wood grain.
Take the remaining icing and color
small amounts yellow, orange, brown, purple and cream and two shades of
blue, green and pink. Leave a little white. Use these colors to shape
the ducks, teddy bear, bulrushes, water, branch and leaves. Cut out a
pink heart and make the baby's initial from white icing.
Mix the white and pink icings together
for the apple blossom flowers. Make the shapes for the boarder. Attach
the decorations to the cake with a little water.
Use the leftover colors to make
"threads". Arrange in loops around the base of the cake on the board.