Two Tiered 21st Cake

Okay this cake is a little bit more complicated however you don't need doweling rods which is always a plus. This was made for one of our birthdays earlier this year.

So starting from the bottom up. The bottom tier is Carrot Cake from Good Food's Cakes and Bakes cookbook. Perfect cookbook for students, come in a little pack of 4 mini cookbooks which cover a good variety of easy meals. Back to the carrot cake, it's very dense which is why we used it as the bottom layer. If you've never made carrot cake before this is a good first timer as it's not easy but simple to follow.

The second tier is a lemon cake from Jamie Oliver's Cook with Jamie called My Nan's Lemon Drizzle Cake. In this example the cake is coated in a completely different icing to the recipe as we needed one icing to go with both cakes which wasn't particularly easy but we found one in the end. I actually spent hours making around 5 lemon cakes in total, different sizes, different recipes and this was the winner.. seeing as the others kept collapsing in the middle. It was very rich with lemon but the poppy seeds make it, they are essential for this delicious tier.

Costco icing is a favourite amongst hundreds including our entire family so we were determined to find a suitable homemade replacement and so we did. It was a struggle to find the recipe and perfect it but I think we managed it, I must say it doesn't set with the same partial crisp to the edge but it still tastes incredible. I recommend you try it before you spend all your money on a big old costco cake (you know homemade stuff is better).

I managed to make this cake the same week as having my appendix removed so never say a cake looks like too much effort, 5 lemon cakes, a carrot cake and homemade costco icing is a challenge but it was definitely worth it.

Carrot Cake

Ingredients

175g light muscovado sugar

175ml sunflower oil

3 large eggs, beaten

140g grated carrots (3 medium carrots)

100g raisins

1 large orange zest

175g self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Method

- Preheat oven to 180/160 (fan oven).

- Butter and line cake tin.

- Mix sugar, oil and eggs lightly with a wooden spoon.

- Stir in carrots, raisins and zest.

- Mix flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices in different bowl.

- Sift mixture into first bowl.

- Mix until soft and almost runny.

- Pour mixture into tin.

- Bake for 40-45 minutes.

- Cool in tin for 5 minutes.

- Leave to cool on cooling rack.

Tip: Can be frozen.

Lemon Cake

Ingredients

115g unsalted butter

115g caster sugar

4 large eggs

180g ground almonds

30g poppy seeds

zest and juice of 2 lemons

125g self-raising flour

Method

- Preheat oven to 180 c.

- Butter and line cake tin.

- Beat butter and sugar till light and creamy.

- Add eggs one by one, beating each one well.

- Fold in ground almonds, poppy seeds, lemon zest, lemon juice and sifted flour.

- Transfer mixture into cake tin.

- Bake for 40 minutes.

- Remove from tin and allow to cool.

Costco Icing

Ingredients

460g white vegetable fat or lard

75g unsalted butter

58g whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

450g icing sugar, sieved

Method

- Cream fat/lard and butter together.

- Slowly add sugar, beating well.

- Slowly add cream.

- Then add vanilla.

- Beat for 5 minutes with an electric whisk on high.

- Put in fridge.