How To Bake A Mind-blowing Birthday Cake

“For my son’s third birthday he requested a cake in the shape of a gold Mercedes-benz. I ordered it and when it arrived I gasped, “Oh my God! What is this? We didn’t want a cake that looks like a Yellow Cab.” Since that day I have made sure I am the only one who makes his birthday cakes, and I make them for many others, too.

The key to making a fabulous cake is to use the very best ingredients. I only ever use French butter in my buttercream icing. I use organic food dye. I use the highest quality chocolate in my chocolate cake and fresh bananas in my banana cake (not the ones that are overripe and brown).

For an easy wow factor, I suggest adding a good splash of colour to your cake, whether in the buttercream icing or fondant decoration. But be wary of purple colouring—it will look blue in your photographs. For cakes that imitate real-life objects, it’s best to apply food dye with an airbrush to create shading and nuances that are true to life. Finally, you need to bake with your heart. If you bake with passion it will always be delicious.”

SIMPLE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Ingredients 100g butter 60g sugar 2 eggs 55g flour 1/3 tsp baking powder 20g cocoa powder

Method

1 Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy 2 Add eggs one at a time on a low speed until fully incorporated 3 Mix flour, baking powder and cocoa powder separately, then add this to the batter until fully incorporated 4 Divide batter between six cupcake moulds using an ice-cream scoop 5 Bake at 150 degrees Celsius for 12 minutes, then allow to cool