Uh-oh ... anyone with some bright ideas please ...

[Millie1]

Lesson 1: Never give a soon to be four year old a recipe book and tell him to choose which birthday cake he'd like!

Result: a castle

Problem: We need 12 mini-swiss rolls for the towers/turrets BUT DS1 has a nut allergy and every mini-swiss roll in our local shops may contain nut traces.

I have a nasty, very nasty, feeling that I'm going to have to make a swiss roll (as well as the birthday cake itself) and cut it down to size unless ... a smart Mumsnetter can come up with another solution!

I have (not altogether seriously) considered the cardboard tubes from a loo roll but ... couldn't bring myself to eat the cake if I did that!

Thanks!

Can you not just make a normal sponge cake - and cut it to the shapes you need??

Either make or buy a choc cake of the right height and cut the towers out with a cutter.

The main part is a 10" sq sponge, quartered and layered but then the mini-swiss rolls are needed for each corner. It's basically \link{ www.debbiebrownscakes.co.uk/myPhotos/pages/Castle_Guard_jpg.htm\this} one - oh heck I must be mad!

Here's the link again

this

Oooh, that's a good idea Carmenere and would be easier than trying the swissroll - I'll just do a straight sponge and layer them with buttercream.

If you microwave loo rolls it does sterilize them.

Okay, life is never straightforward ... my scone cutter is FAR too big to use - am frantically wracking my brain (what brain?) for an alternative.

use a cup as a scone cutter

A shot glass might work?

Would you get away with a fort - then use chocolate fingers round the outside and put grass on the inside (with cowboys & indians)

Okay, have made very large swiss role, quartered and rolled so I now have 4 x 9 inch towers waiting to be filled with buttercream. DH is convinced the whole thing will keel over but am fairly confident that the buttercream will stiffen them and then I'll stick them to main cake with more buttercream.

I must be stark, raving, bonkers ..... !!

ps ... thanks for all the ideas & suggestions.