Ingredients

• 3 x 440g packets golden butter cake mix (with icing sachet)
• 1/3 cup raspberry jam, strained
• 2 white honey jumbles biscuits
• 18 x 30g Flake chocolate bars
• 2 ice-cream wafers
• 50g NESTLÉ BAKERS' CHOICE Dark Choc Melts, melted (see Notes)
• 20 spearmint leaves, halved horizontally
• 3 green snake lollies, thinly sliced lengthways
• 2 yellow snake lollies, halved crossways
• 1 orange snake lolly, cut into 3 pieces
• 1 red snake lolly, cut into 3 pieces
• 4 snake lollies, (2 orange, 2 red) extra

Lady beetles and mushroom bites

• 8 strawberry and cream lollies
• Black and red writing gel
• 3 milk bottle lollies, trimmed

Bumble bees

• 5 yellow jelly beans
• 5 orange jelly beans
• 10 white jelly beans, halved lengthways

Dragonflies and spiders

• 1 strawberry flavoured sour straw, halved crossways
• 2 red heart-shaped lollipops
• 2 orange heart-shaped lollipops
• 1 round black jube, split
• 1/2 cm piece strawberry flavoured sour straw, halved lengthways, extra
• 1cm piece licorice strap, thinly sliced into 16 pieces

Buttercream icing

• 375g unsalted butter, softened
• Reserved icing sachets (see Notes)
• 2 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture
• 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon milk, extra
• Green gel food colouring

Method

• Step 1 Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan-forced. Grease 3 x 7cm-deep, 20cm round cake pans. Line bases and sides with baking paper.
• Step 2 Reserve icing sachets from cake mixes. Prepare cakes following packet directions. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre of cakes comes out clean. Stand in pans for 5 minutes. Turn, top-side up, onto baking paper-lined wire racks to cool.
• Step 3 Make Buttercream icing; Using an electric mixer, beat butter for 8 to 10 minutes or until light and fluffy. Gradually add reserved icing sachets and icing sugar mixture, beating until well combined. Add milk. Beat until combined. Divide icing between 2 bowls. Sift cocoa into 1 portion and add extra milk. Stir until well combined. Using food colouring, tint remaining portion green.
• Step 4 Using a serrated knife, level tops of 2 cakes. Place 1 trimmed cake on the centre of a plate. Spread top with 1/2 the jam. Top with remaining trimmed cake. Spread top with remaining jam. Top with remaining cake. Spread chocolate icing around the side of the cake. Trim base of honey jumble biscuits. Position onto front of cake to form doors. Cut 16 of the Flake bars in half crossways, reserving any trimmings. Press Flake bars around side of cake, filling any gaps with reserved trimmings.
• Step 5 Spoon 3/4 of the green icing into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm leaf nozzle (see Notes). Using the picture as a guide, pipe leaves over top of cake. Place remaining green icing in a piping bag fitted with a grass nozzle. Pipe grass on plate. Crumble remaining Flake bars and sprinkle around base of cake. Using a 3.5cm round cutter, cut 3 rounds from wafers. Place wafer rounds to form stepping stones. Arrange spearmint leaves on green icing to form extra leaves. Tie a knot in the green snake pieces at different lengths to form vines. Push end of vines into top edge of green icing to hang down side of cake. Using the picture as a guide, push 2 yellow, 3 orange and 3 red snake pieces into top of cake. Place remaining yellow snake pieces and extra orange and red snakes on plate.
• Step 6 Make Lady beetles and mushroom bites; Using a sharp knife, cut 'strawberry' from strawberry and cream lollies, reserving 3 pieces of ‘cream’. Using the picture as a guide, pipe black gel onto strawberries to form lady beetles. Using melted chocolate, attach 1/2 the lady beetles around the side of cake, pressing carefully to secure. Arrange remaining lady beetles on top of cake and on the plate. Using melted chocolate, attach the reserved ‘cream’ to cut end of milk bottles to form mushrooms. Using melted chocolate, attach mushrooms to plate. Using red gel, pipe dots on top of mushrooms.
• Step 7 Make Bumble bees; Using the picture as a guide, pipe black gel onto the curved side of yellow and orange bee bodies. Using melted chocolate, attach white jelly bean halves to bee bodies to form wings. Stand for 5 minutes to set. Using melted chocolate, attach 1/2 the bees around the side of cake. Arrange remaining bees on top of cake.
• Step 8 Make Dragonflies and spiders; Using the picture as a guide, place sour straw halves on top of cake. Insert lollipops next to sour straw halves to form wings. Using black gel, pipe eyes onto dragonflies. Using melted chocolate, attach extra sour straw pieces onto each jube half. Place 1 jube on top of cake and 1 on the plate. Using melted chocolate, attach licorice pieces to jubes to form spider legs. Serve.