Frog Cake
An iconic Adelaide bakery treat featuring light sponge cake layered with jam and cream, draped in glossy green fondant with a sweet frog face.
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 65 min
- Servings
- 12
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 310 kcal
Equipment
- •20 cm square baking tin
- •Electric hand mixer
- •Baking paper
- •Piping bag
- •Wire cooling rack
- •Small sharp knife
Nutrition
Per serving, approximate
- Calories
- 310 kcal
- fat
- 10 g
- carbs
- 54 g
- fibre
- 1 g
- protein
- 3 g
- calories
- 310 kcal
Instructions
- 1
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C and line a 20 cm square baking tin with baking paper.
- 2
Beat eggs and caster sugar with an electric mixer for 6 minutes until pale, thick and tripled in volume.
- 3
Gently fold sifted plain flour and cornflour through the egg mixture with a spatula until just combined.
- 4
Pour into the tin and bake for 20 minutes until springy to touch, then cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
- 5
Beat softened butter, 300 g icing sugar and milk until pale and fluffy to create a smooth buttercream.
- 6
Cut the cooled sponge horizontally into two thin layers and spread the raspberry jam between them.
- 7
Cut the layered sponge into 12 even small squares and arrange them spaced apart on a wire cooling rack.
- 8
Pipe a round dome of buttercream on top of each sponge square to form the frog head shape.
- 9
Chill the assembled cakes in the fridge for 30 minutes until the buttercream dome is firm to touch.
- 10
Whisk extra 400 g icing sugar, glucose, green colouring and 4 to 5 tablespoons warm water over low heat until smooth and pourable.
- 11
Ladle the warm green fondant generously over each cake until fully coated, letting excess drip through the rack.
- 12
Slice a horizontal slit across each head for the open mouth, then pipe white buttercream and dark chocolate dots for eyes.
Chef's tips
Ensure the buttercream domes are thoroughly chilled and firm before pouring the warm fondant. If the fondant thickens while coating, warm it gently over a bowl of hot water with a teaspoon of warm water.
Ingredient substitutions
- raspberry jam → strawberry or apricot jam
- green food colouring → pink or chocolate brown food colouring for traditional colour variants
Storage
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, bringing to room temperature 15 minutes before serving.
Reheating
Do not reheat, as warming will instantly melt the fondant and buttercream structure.
Common mistakes to avoid
- •Pouring hot fondant over soft buttercream, causing the head dome to melt and slide off.
- •Cutting the mouth slit too aggressively while the fondant is still wet, which tears the coating.
- •Over-mixing the sponge batter, resulting in dense, flat sponge bases.
Serving suggestions
Cooked Frog Cake?
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