Cake recipe to fill odd-shaped tin?

[dotty2]

I have to make DD1s 5th birthday cake today to ice tonight. I am using a kugelhopf tin - which is a kind of high ring-mould with patterned sides, really intended for yeasted cakes. This is going to be the skirt for a princess cake with a naked doll stuck in the middle and decorated as suggested by Nigella, with a ready to roll icing dress. Not sure what recipe to use for the cake itself. Will a plain Victoria sponge recipe work? Nigella suggests her buttermilk cake mixture, but I have used this before and thought it was a bit damp and sad (though that might have been my fault). Any recommendations? Total volume is about 3 pints, cake tin is 21cm across, but with great big hole in the middle, obviously. Thank you, oh wise, cake bakers.

I just googled "birthday cake recipe shaped tin" and this query came out top - that's impressive search-engine optimisation, MNHQ! But I still don't have a recipe...

OK - 7pm update. I decided just to give it a go, and tried a Victoira sponge recipe (4 eggs, 250g of everything else), baked quite slow at Gas 4 (to be sure it cooked through). It was a disaster. It developed a really thick, sugary crust, which stuck disastrously to the tin and I couldn't get it out. So that one's for a trifle. To make matters worse, my electric whisk broke while I was making a batch of cupcakes for her to take to school... Any other ideas before I give up and go to M&S in the morning? I have an enamel pudding basin - maybe I should try baking the cake in that instead?

Oh poor you dotty2 I have great sympathy. I would personally give up and go to M&S but I like my bed- but if you are not as lazy as me then def give it a go in the pudding basin- use a vic sponge recipe (for each egg 2oz flour, butter and sugar), but cook it maybe even lower than GM4, maybe 3 1/2?