How to Bake and Decorate Cakes with Rowntree’s® Sweets

In this article

Choose your Cake Base 

Pick your Rowntree’s® Sweets for Decoration  

Decorating Techniques – Step-by-Step  

Cake Ideas for Every Occasion

Top Tips for a Showstopping Finish 

Get Baking! 

Looking for a simple but effective way to turn a simple cake into something special? The answer is right here! From birthday bashes and bake sales to picnic treats or teatime eats, cakes with sweets such as Jelly Tots®, Fruit Pastilles, Fruit Gums or Randoms® (or 'cakes with candy', if you're in the US) bring joy, colour and a whole lot of personality to the party!  

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Choose Your Cake Base 

All cakes with sweets need a tasty base recipe. Chocolate or vanilla, loaf or cupcake – which size and shape fits your occasion? Here are a few ideas to play with. Don’t be afraid to mix and match cakes or icings before topping with a selection of Rowntree’s® chewy and gummy sweets.  

• Vanilla sponge: light, fluffy and the perfect blank canvas. Our Mother’s Day Cake recipe is classic Victoria sponge cake that’s just waiting for your chewy creativity!  
• Chocolate cake: rich, festive and great for sharing. Our Chocolate Hazelnut Cake recipe is a simple but delicious chocolate sponge ready for any occasion. Swap out the half of chopped Aero® that you're using for decoration for 45g Randoms® or Fruit Pastilles.
• Chocolate traybake: a no-frills, no fuss bake that’s all about the cake! Our Smarties® Easter Bunny Cake recipe has plenty of room to create your gummy masterpiece. Simply swap out the Smarties for sparkly Jelly Tots®! 
   
• Mini cupcakes: fun-sized portions that are great for kids' parties. Our Smarties® Mini Vanilla Cupcakes are ready and waiting for excited little bakers. Just swap out the Smarties® for Jelly Tots®.
• Fairy cupcakes: just that little bit bigger than mini cupcakes and great for kids' parties! Try our Smarties® Birthday Fairy Cupcakes and decorate with Jelly Tots® instead of Smarties®.
• Cupcakes: big on fun and flavour for any occasion. For a cocoa twist, try our Chocolate Cupcakes. For vanilla, try our Mother’s Day Cupcakes.

Remember that white chocolate buttercream is already very sweet, so aim to reduce the amount you apply by up to a half when you add sweets. 
 

Pick Your Rowntree’s® Sweets for Decoration   

Now for the fun bits! Rowntree’s® has a full sweet shop’s worth of colour, texture, flavour and playful shapes that can turn your cake into a chewy centrepiece.  

• Fruit Pastilles: the original Rowntree’s® treat that kicked off the gummy sweet revolution, Fruit Pastilles are bold, chewy and colourful. With blackcurrant, lemon, strawberry, lime, and orange flavours, they add fruity flair to any bake for grown-ups. Keep them whole or halve them to create half-moons that are great for borders or colourful rows.
• Jelly Tots®: bursting with blackcurrant, strawberry, lemon, lime and orange, these mini pops of chewy colour are great for rainbows, polka dots, letters or sprinkle effects. They’re a baking classic and the go-to decoration for children’s cupcakes.
• Randoms®: packed with quirky shapes like ping-pong paddles, paintbrushes, snowflakes and saxophone, Randoms® add fun, surprise and fruity flavour to any baked treat. Top your cake with crazy shapes or stick them on the sides and create an emoji-style story using the Randoms®.
• Fruit Gums: For classic fruity flavour, it can only be Fruit Gums. With five fruity shapes and flavours to choose from, they are great for creating mosaic patterns or defining edges. 
   

You can mix and match sweets or stick to one kind for a bold statement design. Create rainbow gradients, kaleidoscope mosaics, or even spell out names and numbers. There’s no wrong way, only your way! 

Decorating Techniques Step-by-Step

Once your cake is baked and cooled – and we mean properly cooled – it’s time to get arty and colourful.  

1. Start with your icing base. Buttercream is our go-to icing for its even finish and sticking power. Choose classic vanilla, chocolate or try our Milkybar® Buttercream or Milkybar® Cream Cheese Icing. You can colour your icing to match your theme or go classic white to let the sweets shine. Remember to reduce it significantly to avoid overloading the sugar volumes when you add the sweets.  
2. Plan your design! Want to create a name? A flower? A smiley face? A rainbow? Lay it out on a dinner plate or paper circle that’s roughly the same size as your cake before you commit the sweets to the buttercream.  
3. Place your sweets with care. Gently press each sweet into the icing with just enough force to make an imprint without a squelch. For borders, alternate colours for a striped effect. For fun shapes, group different types of Randoms® into corners or quirky designs.
4. Finish with flair. Pick from some little extras like sprinkles, crushed biscuits, shavings of Yorkie® or Milkybar®, edible glitter or mini marshmallows for a final flourish. 
    

Top Tip

If your icing is a little soft, pop the cake into the fridge for 30 minutes to firm it up before decorating.  

Cake Ideas for Every Occasion 

Whatever the occasion, there’s a sweets cake to match! Here are a few tasty ideas to chew on.

• Birthday cakes: Jelly Tots® are made for birthdays and there’s no end to their usefulness. Create vibrant designs, spell out a name or build a number on top of the cake.  
• Party traybakes: the ultimate slice and serve, traybakes are great for sharing. Dot each slice with a Fruit Pastilles or a chewy Fruit Gums.
• Colourful cupcakes: let each one be unique! Pop on a Randoms® or stud the buttercream with Jelly Tots®.  
• Simple bakes: for a simple bake that’s hard to beat, whip up a loaf cake and let kids decorate with their pick of a range of Rowntree’s® chewy and gummy sweets.  
   

Top Tips for a Showstopping Finish   

Want your cakes with sweets to always steal the spotlight? Here are a few pro tips:

• Balance or group your colours with a mix bold and soft shades so your cake doesn’t look too busy. Colour your icing to match the theme or keep it white and let the sweets steal the show.  
• Think texture and finish by combine smooth icing with chewy sweets and maybe a crunchy topping like toasted nuts.
• Bonus extras like edible glitter, rainbow sprinkles, edible fondant shapes or characters, or mini marshmallows can give your design the final touch it needs.  
• Store your chewy masterpiece in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. For longer storage or if the weather is hot, pop the container into the fridge for up to five days. Let the cake sit at room temperature for at least an hour before serving to take some of the chill off it before serving.  
   

Conclusion 

From parties to weekend projects, baking with Rowntree’s® sweets is an easy way to turn any cake into a chewy, magical marvel! Half the fun is seeing your design come to life with fruity borders, Randoms® surprises and sprinkles of Jelly Tots®. So, grab a selection of your favourite Rowntree’s® treats and have an Instagrammable baking session. And for more sweet ideas and tasty treats, sign up for our newsletter.