Celebration Geode Cake

Far easier to make than you think and mightily impressive to look at. We think this would make a stunning wedding cake for a smaller gathering. Hands-on time 2hr, plus cooling. Cooking time about 1hr 40min. Serves 30

FOR THE 20.5CM CAKES

600g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease

600g caster sugar

9 medium eggs, beaten 650g self-raising flour Finely grated zest 2 large oranges 150ml good quality elderflower cordial (we used Belvoir)

FOR THE 15CM CAKE

125g unsalted butter, softened 125g caster sugar

2 medium eggs, beaten

125g self-raising flour Finely grated zest ½ large orange 40ml elderflower cordial

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

500g unsalted butter, softened 900g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra to dust

Finely grated zest ½ large orange 75ml elderflower cordial

FOR THE ICING

1.5kg white sugar paste/fondant icing 200g light grey sugar paste/fondant icing, see GH Tips

FOR THE DECORATION Gold edible paint

Deep purple, light purple and white candy sugar crystals, large and small, see GH Tips

YOU WILL ALSO NEED

20.5cm cake drum

A fine paintbrush

1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Grease and line the base and sides of 2 x 20.5cm round, 8.5cm deep cake tins and 1 x 15cm round, 8.5cm deep cake tin with baking parchment.

2 For the 20.5cm cakes, using a freestanding mixer or handheld electric whisk and a very large bowl, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a spoonful of flour if the mixture looks like it’s about to curdle.

3 Beat in orange zest. Using a large metal spoon, fold in (remaining) flour, followed by the elderflower cordial. Divide between the 20.5cm tins and smooth to level. Bake for 55min–1hr, or until a skewer inserted into the centre

of the cakes comes out clean (cover tins with foil after 40min if cakes are browning too quickly). Cool in tins for 10min, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make batter for 15cm cake in same way, baking for 35-40min, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool as above.

For the buttercream, using a freestanding mixer or handheld electric whisk and a large bowl, beat butter until pale and creamy. Add ½ the icing sugar and, starting slowly, beat to incorporate. Add remaining icing sugar, orange zest and elderflower cordial, and beat until light and fluffy, about 2min.

Slice all 3 cakes in ½ horizontally. Sandwich back together with a layer of buttercream. Spread a thin smear of buttercream on cake drum, then stack on the 20.5cm cakes, sandwiched together with a layer of buttercream. Spread the top with some more buttercream and then sit the sandwiched 15cm cake on top. Spread top and sides of stacked cake and drum with a scant layer of buttercream, smoothing as neatly as possible for a cleaner finish. Reserve remaining buttercream (about 3tbsp).

7 For the icing, squeeze the white sugar paste/fondant into a large, fat sausage. Roll grey sugar paste/fondant into 3 thin sausages the same length as the white and stick on, spacing apart. Now twist, roll out, break in ½ and stick back together until you get a marbled appearance. Shape into a disc.

8 Lightly dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out the marbled fondant until it’s large enough to cover the whole of the cake (see GH Tips). Lightly dust the top of the sugar paste/fondant with icing sugar, then loosely roll it up on the rolling pin. Quickly transfer on to the cake, unrolling from the base of one side of the cake and over the top. Using your hands, smooth the sugar paste/fondant on to the cake and drum, working from the top down and paying attention to the angles. Trim excess and transfer to a cake stand or plate.

Next, cut a slight diagonal, tapered crack into the cake from top to bottom, at its widest about 11cm, and 4cm at its deepest. Neatly spread a thin layer of buttercream inside the crack. Using a fine paintbrush, paint a thin line of edible gold paint on to the icing around the crack.

10 Working from the centre of the crack out, and using the darkest, largest rock sugar candy first, stick them at irregular angles into the buttercream. As you work outwards, choose lighter and smaller pieces, ending with white around the edges. You can also gently bash the larger pieces with a rolling pin to make smaller, irregular pieces to stick on. The aim is to have no buttercream visible and to make it look like an amethyst.

11 Serve and get ready for the astonishment! PER SERVING (not including candy sugar crystals) 881cals, 5g protein, 39g fat (24g saturates), 126g carbs (109g total sugars), 1g fibre GET AHEAD Make and cool cakes up to a day ahead. Wrap well in clingfilm. Assemble up to a day ahead. Store at cool room temperature.