Significant Birthday Cake - 48 hrs notice - go!

[NeverRTFT]

I have just discovered that I need to produce a birthday cake to feed about 10-12 people at a party on Sunday for a family member's major milestone birthday.
I'm competent to do the sponge (victoria or madeira) and buttercream. I'm not very creative but DD is and has piping bags and nozzles etc.
I'm looking for a cake idea that is tried and trusted, simple but high impact. Needs the wow factor, but with minimal faff and no chance of it going wrong as I'll be doing this in a last minute rush tomorrow after I can get to the shops for ingredients. Then taking it in the car for an hour to the party house on Sunday morning.

I'd like your ideas for recipes / designs please MNers!

Have a look at marble icing - that look Wow and quite easy.

Overload drip cakes. Whether it be donuts, sweets or chocolate bars etc always look good and impressive. Plus relatively simple to pull off. Can also mask a multitude of sins even if it does go wrong!

yes agree, go for one of those cakes decorated with loads of little chocs on top and a fence of choc fingers round the edge or the dripped icing.

Look really good but would be easy to make I think.
This kind of thing:

Eton mess cake realfood.tesco.com/recipes/eton-mess-cake.html

Ferrero Rocher www.delish.com/uk/cooking/recipes/a35901680/fererro-rocher-cake/

Birthday piñata cake recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/birthday-surprise-cake

If you have access to any lovely real flowers how about a naked cake with flowers decoration

Hot air balloon cake.

Decorate the cake like a basket, make some icing figures looking over the edge, blow up a balloon and attach with sticks hidden with ribbons to the basket. Balloon could have the milestone birthday age on it and figures made to look like the person celebrating.
Easy to decorate and transport, can be assembled at the venue.

Love these ideas - thanks gang! Not sure if I'm up to making the basket effect cake and icing figures @TossieFleacake but I'll ask DD about it later as the balloon sounds like a fun factor.

I think I'm into the drip cake idea @Baker90 and @clary - as you say, this can cover up a multitude of sins and doesn't look too time consuming!

A few ideas here but my favourite is the ombre, skip to 2:53

2 packs of Betty Crocker Red Velvet

Stack the sponges 4 high with frosting in between, secure with drinking straws poked all of the way through

'Naked' frosting with 2 tubs of Betty Crocker vanilla frosting

Buy a round foil cake board to make it look really special

Artfully arrange strawberries over half of the top and 'cascading' down the side and onto the board (use cocktail and kebab sticks to secure)

Get a carboard cake box and a sparkler candle

Flatly deny any knowledge of Betty Crocker anything

I kid you not this is easy and awesome!

What flavour does the birthday person like? I've made this one with lots of sprinkles and bits and bobs over the top for my dd a few years ago www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/cappuccino-coffee-cake-recipe/

For my friends 40th a few years ago I made a lemon cake, doubled up the recipe so I had four layers. Did a lemon buttercream between the layers with lemon curd on the base of each layer (so cake, lemon curd, buttercream, cake, lemons curd, buttercream etc) I think I coated the outside of the cake with the buttercream too. Topped with buttercream swirls and bought some mini lemon meringues from M&S and put them on top. Probably had gold glitter spray all over it and some edible sprinkles, I think butterflies and things like that.

@NeverRTFT you know you are now morally obligated to post a pic of the result, right?

You can get a nozzle that looks like roses when piped. Simple but effective. Pair with sparklers with the birthday age.

I’d be off to M&S….

I’ve mAde a cake like the one clary posted. Really quick and easy to ice and assemble and people still ooh and aah.

I was about to recommend the same thing as @Idontgiveagriffindamn - dead easy to do but looks amazing!

Easy, delicious and surprisingly impressive looking.... I give you:

www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/ultimate-one-bowl-chocolate-dessert-cake

I don't as a rule decorate it, but DD quite likes to stick things on it. Eg shaved chocolate curls or (she's 6) smarties! A little piped cream with raspberries is more than enough.

I have made this for my DD on numerous occassions, it is really easy and lush:

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/ultimate-chocolate-cake

There's a lot of emphasis now on cake decoration and not enough to my mind on flavour. A really delicious cake which is not difficult to make is Nigella Lawson's chocolate Guinness cake. Topping is cream cheese frosting. Someone better at decorating than me (ie almost anyone) can suggest how to make it look fancy. The rose piping suggested above would work.

www.nigella.com/recipes/chocolate-malteser-cake

Decorate in overload style

What did you go for, @NeverRTFT? Photo?

@BikeRunSki I think the decent M&S ones need pre order with 5 days' notice. Otherwise that's exactly what I would have done! Their massive Victoria sponge is great and easy to decorate. Unfortunately I decided to DIY (not even a Betty Crocker in sight)...

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

There's a lot of emphasis now on cake decoration and not enough to my mind on flavour. A really delicious cake which is not difficult to make is Nigella Lawson's chocolate Guinness cake. Topping is cream cheese frosting. Someone better at decorating than me (ie almost anyone) can suggest how to make it look fancy. The rose piping suggested above would work.

I made this for the same relative's birthday 20 years ago!! 👍👍

[quote BewareTheBeardedDragon]@NeverRTFT you know you are now morally obligated to post a pic of the result, right? [/quote]
Oh God.
Ok so I took the advice of many on here and went for a drip cake. I'll post 2 pics now. The drip cake in my imagination and the brutal reality

Ganache is at optimal consistency for about a tenth of a second. You miss the window, it’s game over. Is what I learned (the hard way)
Didn't help that instead of Lindt white chocolate I accidentally picked up a weird Lindor bar which was filled with cream, which made it super runny when melted (I left out the cream from the ganache entirely).
Just going to pile it high with fruit and style it out!

While it definitely doesn’t look like something off Instagram it will taste amazing. Fruit will lift it. Genuine question and not trying to be mean, but don’t drip cakes need an icing layer under the drip layer? Is yours straight on the cake? I’ve never tried to make one so educating myself.