Highly geological homemade cake

The Misses Pecksniff may not have intended a stratified cake for Martin’s Installation Banquet in Barnaby Rudge, but fancy layered cakes were popular. An American fan invented the Dolly Varden cake, with chocolate, white, pink and yellow layers, after the novel’s flamboyant character. The name now describes little girls’ birthday cakes in the shape of fairy princesses. You may find it easier to make this in two batches of two cakes, particularly if you have only two cake tins, so grease four round 18cm tins.

SERVES 8-10

350g of butter, softened,

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plus extra for greasing 350g of caster sugar

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6 eggs, well beaten

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350g of self-raising flour

● FOR THE FOUR FLAVOURS

Zest of 1 orange and ● 2 tbsps of carrot juice, plus 1 extra tbsp of flour

2 tbsps of raspberry,

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redcurrant, or blackcurrant juice Zest of 1 lemon and

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juice of half, plus 1 extra tbsp of flour (or leave this layer plain) 50g of plain chocolate,

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melted in a bowl over a pan of hot water Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C/GAS mark 5. 1 Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs a very little at a time, beating well after each addition. If your mixture separates, stabilise it by adding a little of the flour. Fold in the flour with a metal spoon.

2 Divide the mixture between four bowls and add the flavouring to each bowl. (If you would like the layers to have stronger colours, you can add a drop of orange or red food colouring to the relevant bowls.) Mix in gently, then transfer into the greased cake tins and level the tops.

3 Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. When the cakes are coming away from the side of the tin, take them out of the oven and cool in the tin on a wire rack.

4 When they are cool, remove from the tin and use a sharp knife to cut off the outer edges so the colours are clearly visible.

5 To make the frosting, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add the butter and when it has melted, add the sugar and egg white. Keeping the bowl over the pan of simmering water, beat the frosting until it is smooth.

6 Place the bottom layer of cake on a serving plate and top with a layer of frosting. Repeat with the remaining cakes, carefully stacking them so the sides are level, and with frosting between the layers and on the top. If you wish, decorate the top with crystallised rose petals. ➤