Celebration Cake

Ingredients:

800g unsalted butter, softened
450g caster sugar
8 eggs
450g self-raising flour, sifted
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
100g white fondant icing (the ready to roll kind)
700g icing sugar
500g raspberry jam
1kg pink fondant icing (the ready to roll kind)
1 tube white royal icing
heart-shaped sweets, to decorate
food colourings (various colours)

Method:

Cream together 340g of the butter with 340g of the sugar in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in six of the eggs, adding them one at a time and beating thoroughly to combine after each addition.

Now fold in 340g of the flour and 2 tsp of the baking powder, adding them gradually and folding to combine with a metal spoon after each addition. Mix in 1/3 of the vanilla extract then divide the mixture between two greased and lined 23cm diameter cake tins.

Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C (Gas Mark 4) and bake for about 65 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake emerges cleanly. When done, turn out of the tins onto a wire rack and set aside to cool as you prepare the next two cakes.

In a bowl, cream together 110g of the butter with the remaining sugar, beating until pale and fluffy. Add the remaining two eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition then fold in the remaining flour and baking powder along with half the remaining vanilla extract. Use this batter to fill two 15cm diameter round cake tins that have been greased and lined.

Transfer to the oven and bake for between 40 and 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre emerges cleanly. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool. You will now have two large and two small sponge cakes.

In the meantime, prepare some of the decorations. For this version of the cake you need to make icing flowers (these also work for other cakes such as easter, mother's day or a girl's birthday) but for easter make egg shapes and for a boy's birthday make footballs (soccer balls) or rugby balls.

However, for the icing flowers, divide 80g of the white fondant icing into four pieces and colour each with a different food colour. Roll each different colour out to a thickness of a few millimetres (about the thickness of a 5 pence piece). Make some very small balls out of the remaining white fondant icing then dot these over the icing sheets. Now roll lightly with a rolling pin to press the white dots into the sheets (these are the centres of your flowers). Use either a flower-shaped cutter or a sharp knife to cut flowers with the white dots in the centre. Set these aside.

For the buttercream icing, combine the remaining butter and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat until smooth. Gradually whisk in the icing sugar, in stages. If the mixture becomes too stiff then simply add 1 tbsp hot water and whisk until the icing is completely smooth.

Using a serrated bread knife cut the cooled 23cm diameter cakes in half horizontally and sit the first bottom half on a cake board, serving plate or cake stand. Use all but 2 tbsp of the jam and add all but 2 tbsp of the buttercream to stick the four 23cm diameter cake pieces together. Use the remaining buttercream to sit the two 15cm diameter cakes on top of the 23cm cake stack.

Dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out 550g of the pink fondant icing into a rough circle that's large enough to cover the top and sides of the 23cm diameter cake. Now cut a 15cm diameter circle in the centre of this so that you can slip the icing ver the smaller cake.

No heat the remaining jam with 2 tsp boiling water to form a glaze. Brush this mixture liberally over both cakes then put the icing you've just prepared on top. Let the icing slip over the 15cm cake onto the larger cake below. Mould the icing around your stack of 23cm diameter cakes and then trim off the excess at the base.

Take the remaining pink icing (and any scraps) and roll out until large enough to cover the two 15cm diameter cakes. Cover he cakes and trim the icing at the base then pipe a row of royal icing to hide the joint between the two cakes.

Use any leftover royal icing to glue the sweets on top of the two cakes and to attach the icing flowers to the sides.

Serve sliced.