Not a fan of Christmas cake? Want to see in the New Year in style, or celebrate an engagement or special occasion? Wrap your eyes around this cake.

  • Serves: 16-20
  • Prep: 40 minutes
  • Cook: 1-11/4 hours
  • To finish: 40 minutes

Lemon cakes ingredients

  • 400g/14oz soft margarine
  • 400g/140z caster sugar
  • 2 lemons, finely grated rind only
  • 7 medium eggs
  • 550g/1lb 4oz self-raising flour
  • 5 tablespoons semi-skimmed milk

Lemon drizzle ingredients

2 lemons, juice only 150g/5oz caster sugar

Frosting ingredients

  • 100g/4oz butter, at room temperature
  • 350g/12oz icing sugar
  • 100g/4oz lemon curd
  • 75g/3oz raspberries

To decorate

  • 400g/14oz strawberries, halved if large
  • 225g/8oz raspberries
  • 100g/4oz blueberries
  • Little sifted icing sugar
  • Edible flowers, optional

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 160C/140C fan assisted/Gas mark 4. Cut long strips of nonstick baking paper a little taller than the sides of a cake tin. Fold up one of the long edges by 2cm then make small scissor snips up to the fold. Arrange the paper strips around the sides of a 20cm and a 13cm deep round cake tin with the snipped edges downwards then add a circle of nonstick baking paper to the base of each cake tin.
  2. Add the soft margarine, caster sugar and lemon rind to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat together until light and fluffy.
  3. Add one egg and beat until smooth, add a second egg and a spoonful of flour and again beat until smooth. Gradually mix in all the remaining eggs and flour alternately until the cake mixture is smooth.
  4. Divide the mixture between the two tins so that they're a similar depth, then smooth the surface and bake in the centre of the oven. Allow 50-60 minutes for the small cake and about 1 1/4 hours for the larger cake until well risen, golden and a skewer comes out cleanly when inserted into the centre of the cake.
  5. Meanwhile, mix the lemon juice and sugar together and set aside. Add all the frosting ingredients to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat together until smooth. Cover the bowl and chill until needed.
  6. Allow each cake to cool for five minutes then turn out onto a wire rack set over a cooling rack so that the top is downwards. Peel away the lining paper and skewer what is now the top of the hot cake. Drizzle over the syrup and leave to cool.
  7. When ready to assemble the cake, trim off the domed top if needed then turn the cake back over so that the sticky syrupy base is now the top. Cut each cake into three layers with a serrated knife. Put the base layer onto a pedestal stand, spread with a little of the frosting then layer up the two other larger cake layers with frosting. Spread the top of the cake with frosting then add the base layer of the smaller cake and layer up cake with frosting.
  8. Insert three long plastic cake supports through the top of the cake down to the second cake to hold them in place. Trim off the top of the cake supports, level with the cake using scissors.
  9. Spread a layer of frosting on the top of the cake then decorate the cake tiers and base of the pedestal stand with berries and dust with sifted icing sugar. Scatter with edible flower petals if using.

COOK'S TIP: The cake can be made and drizzled with syrup the day before and kept in a large plastic box lined with nonstick baking paper in a cool place. Make and chill the frosting the day before too. Assemble the cake when needed or 2 hours in advance. Use two long spatulas when lifting the layers of cake, the top layers are the most fragile as they contain the most lemon syrup.

Check out www.seasonalberries.co.uk to find the association of berry growers hoping to encourage more people to incorporate fresh fruit into their diet.

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