Stained glass cake recipe

Stained glass cake really has the wow-factor! Colourful shards and layers of super soft sponge make it a real treat and a super special surprise for a birthday! This cake takes a little while to put together, but it's really worth the time and effort in the end, especially if it's for someone special in your life. The colourful stained glass shards can be arranged as you like, so you can either choose to lay them out like we have, or get experimental with your patterns

Ingredients

• 350g plain flour
• 2½tsp baking powder
• 240g unsalted butter
• 250g golden caster sugar
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 200g ground almonds
• Zest and juice 3 lemons
• 200ml milk
• 225g unsalted butter, softened
• 600g icing sugar, sifted
• 100ml double cream
• 600g boiled sweets
• 150g liquid glucose

Method

1. Heat oven to 170C, gas 3. Sift the flour and baking powder, then set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs, adding a little flour after each addition.
2. Fold in the rest of the flour and the ground almonds. Add the zest and juice from 2 lemons and the milk, and mix until just combined. Divide between 2 x 17cm round cake tins, greased and lined, and bake for 60-70 mins, then allow to cool.
3. Beat the butter and icing sugar until smooth, then add the cream and zest and juice from 1 lemon. Trim the risen tops of the sponges and cut in half to make 4 even layers. Put a sponge on a plate and spread with buttercream using a palette knife. Repeat with the remaining sponges, then cover the whole cake with the buttercream.
4. Put the sweets in pans according to colour and add 1 part liquid glucose per 4 parts sweets. Melt over a low heat at first, then turn to high, stirring regularly. Next, pour onto sheets of oiled foil. When cool, break into shards and push into the buttercream.