Seeds of success

Hosting a birthday, afternoon tea, Mother’s Day or christening? This layer cake soars to new heights – it’s scrumptious and looks spectacular, yet it also meets tricky dietary needs.

CITRUS POPPY SEED CELEBRATION CAKE PREP + COOK TIME 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES (+ STANDING, COOLING & REFRIGERATION) SERVES 12

1 cup (250ml) orange juice

1/3 cup (50g) poppy seeds

2 cups (500ml) coconut milk 1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar 2½ cups (375g) self-raising flour 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda 2 teaspoons baking powder

11/3 cups (300g) golden caster sugar 2 tablespoons finely grated

orange rind

750g vegan coconut yoghurt

250g fresh blueberries

3 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind edible flowers, optional

1 Preheat oven to 170°C/150°C fan. Grease two deep 20cm round cake pans; line bases and sides with baking paper.

2 Combine orange juice and seeds in a small bowl; stand for 15 minutes. 3 Meanwhile, combine coconut milk and vinegar in a medium bowl; stand for 5 minutes.

4 Sift flour, soda, baking powder and caster sugar into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, add seed mixture, coconut milk mixture and orange rind; whisk until just combined. Divide mixture evenly between pans.

5 Bake cakes for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool.

6 Split cakes in half; refrigerate cakes for 2 hours.

7 Place one base layer of cake on a plate. Top with a quarter of the yoghurt and a third each of the blueberries and lemon rind. Repeat layering with remaining cake layers, yoghurt, blueberries and rind, finishing with the final cake layer, topped with yoghurt.

8 Top with edible flowers, if you like.