Cake Week is where a handshake first feels like a dare.

Chapter 1: Cake Week

Cake Week is where a handshake first feels like a dare. The brief may be familiar—make a cake—but the tent asks for more than a reliable sponge: a point of view, a clean finish, and the nerve to make the whole thing hold together while the clock and the weather misbehave.

This chapter collects three verified Hollywood handshakes from the Cake challenges: Sophie Faldo’s Series 8 Signature, then Rahul Mandal and Ruby Bhogal’s history-making Series 9 Showstoppers. These are not invented “inspired by” bakes. Each entry is tied to a baker, UK series, week, challenge type, and documented handshake. The recipes below are paraphrased from the publicly published Great British Bake Off recipe pages and credited to the baker. The Rahul page is called out plainly because it is an official related adaptation, not a verbatim reconstruction of the cake seen in the tent.

A note on the handshake: Paul Hollywood’s handshake is a moment of recognition, not a formal prize category. It belongs to the televised bake and the baker who made it. Our job here is to preserve that story while giving home bakers a clear, generous recipe to make.

Sophie Faldo’s Pineapple & Coconut Sandwich Cake

The handshake card

• Baker: Sophie Faldo
• UK series: Series 8 (2017)
• Week: Week 1, Cake Week
• Challenge: Signature
• Handshake fact: Sophie received a Hollywood handshake for this Cake Week Signature. Contemporary reporting also records Sophie’s later clarification that the broadcast edit made another handshake look like the first of the series; the order on television is not the same thing as the order in the tent.
• Yield: 12 servings
• Difficulty: Needs skill
• Official recipe timing: 1 hour 30 minutes hands-on; 1 hour 30 minutes baking
• Source: Sophie’s Pineapple & Coconut Sandwich Cake, The Great British Bake Off

Why it earned the handshake

This is a deceptively sunny cake: fresh pineapple can flood a batter, and coconut can make a crumb feel heavy if it is handled carelessly. Sophie’s published recipe solves both problems with the kind of practical restraint that reads beautifully on a plate. The pineapple is drained and patted dry before it goes into the sponge; a few thin slices are dried separately into a sculptural flower; and the cake is finished with coconut-flavored Italian meringue buttercream rather than a bluntly sweet frosting.

The judging moment focused on the things a good sandwich cake must get right: a neat build, a lovely texture, and pineapple flavor that actually arrives. Contemporary accounts of the tasting preserve Paul’s enthusiasm for the pineapple coming through strongly, while Mary Berry praised the sponge and the silky Italian meringue buttercream. That combination—freshness, precision, and a finish with real technique—is the lore of this handshake. It is not a cake that shouts. It makes the judges take another bite.

Ingredients

Sponge

• 100g (3½ oz) fresh coconut chunks
• 1 pineapple, topped, tailed, and peeled
• 170g (¾ cup) cake margarine, or softened unsalted butter
• 225g (1 cup plus 2 tbsp) superfine/caster sugar
• 5 large eggs, beaten
• 240g (2 cups) self-rising flour

Italian meringue buttercream and decoration

• 300g (1½ cups) superfine/caster sugar
• 3 large egg whites
• 250g (1 cup plus 1 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• Coconut flavoring, to taste
• 2 tbsp toasted coconut flakes

You will also need parchment, two round cake pans, a muffin pan for shaping the pineapple flower, and a sugar thermometer.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C; 160°C fan). Grease and line two round cake pans. Trim the brown husk from the coconut and pulse the flesh in a food processor until it resembles small gravel, not paste.
2. Cut three thin discs from the bottom of the pineapple and set them aside for the flower. Chop the remaining fruit, removing the core. Drain and pat dry 150g (about 5¼ oz) for the batter; reserve 50g (about 1¾ oz) for the finish.
3. Beat the margarine or butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs gradually, beating well after each addition. Add a spoonful of the flour with each of the last three additions to help keep the batter smooth.
4. Fold in the remaining sifted flour, followed by the chopped coconut and drained pineapple. Divide the batter between the pans and bake for 25–30 minutes, until risen, golden, and cleanly springy when tested. Cool in the pans for 2 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.
5. Lower the oven to 275°F (140°C; 120°C fan). Lay the three pineapple discs on a parchment-lined sheet. Bake for 15–20 minutes, turn them, and continue until leathery, flexible, and edged with gold. Press each disc into a muffin-pan cavity and bake for about 20 minutes more, until dry enough to hold a curve. Cool in the pan, then stack the pieces into a flower.
6. For the buttercream, put the sugar and 6 tbsp water in a saucepan. Warm gently until the sugar dissolves, then boil until the syrup reaches 250°F (121°C). Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. With the mixer running, pour in the hot syrup in a thin, steady stream. Whisk until the meringue is thick, glossy, and back to room temperature.
7. Add the softened butter a little at a time, whisking until smooth before adding more. Flavor with coconut flavoring to taste. Cover and chill until firm enough to pipe.
8. Put one sponge top-side down on a cake stand. Pipe half the buttercream into generous kisses, leaving enough for the top. Add the second sponge top-side up and pipe the remaining buttercream. Center the pineapple flower on top and finish with the reserved pineapple pieces and toasted coconut.

Baker’s tips

• Drying the pineapple is not busywork. It keeps the fruit from watering out the batter and lets the pineapple taste, rather than its juice, lead.
• If your coconut is already shredded, use it only as a practical substitute; the source recipe’s fresh coconut chunks give the sponge its particular, toothsome texture.
• Italian meringue buttercream can look curdled when the butter goes in. Keep whisking; if the bowl is warm, pause briefly and continue once the mixture has cooled.
• Make sure the syrup reaches 250°F/121°C. A thermometer turns a high-drama step into a repeatable one.

Make-ahead

Bake the sponges one day ahead, cool completely, wrap well, and keep at room temperature. The pineapple flower can be made a day ahead and stored airtight once fully dry. Make the buttercream up to two days ahead and refrigerate; bring it toward room temperature and re-whip before piping. Assemble the cake the day it will be served for the freshest pineapple and the cleanest buttercream.

Rahul Mandal’s Chocolate, Orange & Ginger Surprise Cake

The handshake card

• Baker: Rahul Mandal
• UK series: Series 9 (2018)
• Week: Week 2, Cake Week
• Challenge: Showstopper
• Handshake fact: Rahul received the first-ever Hollywood handshake for a Showstopper in the documented Bake Off record; Ruby Bhogal received the second in the same challenge.
• Yield: 12 servings
• Difficulty: Needs skill
• Official recipe timing: 1 hour hands-on; 30–35 minutes baking, plus chilling and decorating
• Source: Rahul’s Chocolate, Orange & Ginger Surprise Cake, The Great British Bake Off

A necessary bit of honesty about the published recipe

In the tent, Rahul’s handshake was for a chocolate-orange layer/collar cake made for the Series 9 Week 2 Showstopper: a multi-tiered cake with a chocolate collar. The official GBBO page linked to that bake is a related published recipe titled Chocolate, Orange & Ginger Surprise Cake. It is not presented as a frame-for-frame transcription of the on-show cake. It adds stem ginger, a hidden center of shell-coated chocolate sweets, and a cacti-and-rock-garden decoration; it does not reproduce every visual detail of Rahul’s judged Showstopper.

That distinction matters. This entry gives you the publicly published Rahul recipe as an official related adaptation, while the lore identifies the actual handshake bake accurately.

Why it earned the handshake

Series 9’s Cake Week Showstopper asked the bakers for a multi-tiered cake wrapped in a chocolate collar, with flavor and visual impact doing equal work. The tent was hot, which is an especially unkind environment for tall cake and chocolate. Reporting from the episode records Prue Leith’s admiration for Rahul’s construction and Paul’s praise for how impressively it held together. Paul then called Rahul over and acknowledged that he had never given a handshake during a Showstopper before.

Rahul’s reaction was characteristically practical and wonderfully human: he wondered whether Paul had found a cocktail stick accidentally left inside the cake. The published adaptation keeps the same spirit of engineering and surprise. Its chocolate-orange-ginger sponges are sturdy, the center is concealed until the cake is cut, and the cactus garden turns structural problem-solving into a party reveal. The handshake belongs to the original collar cake; this recipe is its official published cousin.

Ingredients

Sponge

• 120ml (½ cup) whole milk
• 85g (¾ cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 500g (about 2½ cups packed) dark muscovado sugar
• 170g (¾ cup) baking spread
• 5 large eggs
• 9 balls stem ginger in syrup, drained and finely chopped
• 300g (2½ cups) self-rising flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 3 tsp ground ginger
• Finely grated zest of 2 large unwaxed oranges

Orange American buttercream and decoration

• 250g (about 1 cup plus 1 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tsp orange extract
• 500g (about 4 cups) sifted confectioners’ sugar
• Pinch of salt
• Red, green, and dark-green food-coloring pastes

Chocolate buttercream and filling

• 400g (14 oz) 60% dark chocolate chips
• 150g (⅔ cup) salted butter
• 200g (scant 1 cup) unsalted butter
• 350g (about 3 cups) sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 400g (14 oz) mini shell-coated chocolate sweets

You will also need two round cake pans, a round cutter smaller than the cakes, piping bags and tips, parchment, and dried spaghetti strands for the cactus stems.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C; 160°C fan). Grease and line the cake pans.
2. Warm the milk until just below boiling. Take it off the heat, whisk in the cocoa to make a thick paste, and transfer the paste to a mixer bowl. Beat in the muscovado sugar, baking spread, and eggs for 3–4 minutes, until fluffy.
3. Toss the chopped stem ginger with 1 tbsp of the flour. Add the baking powder, remaining flour, ground ginger, and orange zest to the mixer bowl and beat just until combined. Fold in the floured ginger.
4. Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until risen and a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 5–10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.
5. Make the orange buttercream by beating the butter until light. Add the orange extract and confectioners’ sugar gradually, then the salt. Beat until smooth. Set aside.
6. For the chocolate buttercream, melt the chocolate gently over simmering water and cool it for about 10 minutes. Beat the salted and unsalted butters together, add the confectioners’ sugar, then beat in the cooled chocolate until no streaks remain.
7. Cut a circle from the center of two sponges, leaving two even rings. Keep the cut-out cake. Reserve 5 tbsp of the chocolate buttercream. Divide the remaining chocolate buttercream into roughly two-thirds and one-third portions.
8. Set one sponge ring on a cake board with some of the larger buttercream portion. Spread buttercream across its top, add the second ring, and fill the center with the shell-coated sweets. Cover the top of the second ring with buttercream and place the remaining whole sponge on top.
9. Use the larger portion of chocolate buttercream to cover the cake in a neat first coat. Chill for 15 minutes. Mash the reserved cake pieces with the reserved 5 tbsp buttercream, roll the mixture into about 20 irregular balls, and chill them for 30 minutes.
10. Apply the remaining one-third portion of chocolate buttercream as a second coat and chill for another 15 minutes.
11. Divide the orange buttercream into four bowls: leave one white and tint the others red, green, and dark green. Load small piping bags with the combinations described in the source recipe, and put the remaining greens and a little white into a larger bag.
12. Pipe cacti and small plants around the cake. Arrange the chilled cake balls on top as rocks. Push dried spaghetti into the top at different heights, then pipe the green buttercream around each strand to form upright cacti. Finish with red buttercream flowers. Serve at room temperature so the center can tumble out when the cake is cut.

Baker’s tips

• Coat the chopped stem ginger in flour before folding it in; it helps distribute the pieces instead of letting them sink.
• Let the melted chocolate cool before it meets the buttercream. Warm chocolate can loosen the mixture and make the finish greasy.
• Chill between coats. A tall cake rewards patience more than force.
• The sweets are the surprise, so choose a candy that is dry and shell-coated. Moist or soft filling can compromise the center.
• For a family table, tell guests the cake is a surprise without describing the center. The reveal is part of the recipe’s pleasure.

Make-ahead

Bake the sponges up to two days ahead, cool, wrap, and refrigerate or freeze. Make the chocolate and orange buttercreams one day ahead; bring them to spreadable temperature and beat briefly before using. The assembled cake can be chilled overnight, but bring it to room temperature before serving. Add the candy center and final cactus decoration as close to serving as practical so the sweets stay crisp.

Ruby Bhogal’s Chocolate Orange “Jackson Pollock” Collar Cake

The handshake card

• Baker: Ruby Bhogal
• UK series: Series 9 (2018)
• Week: Week 2, Cake Week
• Challenge: Showstopper
• Handshake fact: Ruby received the second-ever Hollywood handshake for a Showstopper, immediately after Rahul’s first in the same historic challenge.
• Yield: 12 servings
• Difficulty: Needs skill
• Official recipe timing: 1 hour 30 minutes hands-on; 25 minutes baking, plus chilling and setting
• Source: Ruby’s Chocolate Orange “Jackson Pollock” Collar Cake, The Great British Bake Off

Why it earned the handshake

Ruby’s cake had the exact kind of confidence a Showstopper asks for: three orange-scented layers, chocolate-hazelnut cream, orange cream, a graphic white-and-gray chocolate collar, and brittle shards that make the whole thing look taller and wilder than it is. The decoration is painterly, but the architecture is disciplined. There is nowhere for a collapsed layer or a loose crumb to hide.

The real moment was as much about the cut as the collar. Contemporary reporting records Prue calling the cake “very intelligent and very classy,” while Paul noted that the sponge was beautifully cooked as he cut into it and then gave Ruby the handshake, saying, “This is a fine cake.” Ruby was delighted by Paul’s approval but said she had particularly wanted to impress Prue—a lovely reminder that a handshake can be one baker’s headline and not the only judgment that matters.

Ingredients

Sponge

• 300g (1⅓ cups) cake margarine, at room temperature
• 300g (1½ cups) golden superfine/caster sugar
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 2½ tsp vanilla bean paste
• 3 tsp Valencian orange extract
• Finely grated zest of 2 large unwaxed oranges
• 3 tbsp Cointreau
• 315g (about 2½ cups) sifted self-rising flour

Cointreau syrup

• 50g (¼ cup) superfine/caster sugar
• 50ml (3 tbsp plus 1 tsp) Cointreau
• 50ml (3 tbsp plus 1 tsp) water

Chocolate-hazelnut cream

• 75g (¾ cup) blanched whole hazelnuts
• 65g (2¼ oz) good-quality milk chocolate
• 35g (3 tbsp) superfine/caster sugar
• 15g (2 tbsp) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
• Pinch of salt
• 200ml (¾ cup plus 1 tbsp) heavy/double cream
• 100g (scant ½ cup) mascarpone

Orange cream

• 300ml (1¼ cups) heavy/double cream
• 150g (⅔ cup) mascarpone
• 50g (¼ cup) superfine/caster sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1½ tsp Valencian orange extract
• Finely grated zest of 1 large unwaxed orange

Collar and brittle

• 300g (10½ oz) white chocolate, plus 25g (¾ oz) for drizzling
• Black food-coloring gel
• 50g (⅓ cup) blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 150g (¾ cup) superfine/caster sugar

You will also need three round cake pans, two strips of food-safe acetate long enough to wrap the cake, a food processor, a cake board, and a lined small baking sheet.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C; 160°C fan). Grease and line three round cake pans. Beat the margarine and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the beaten eggs gradually, adding a little flour if the mixture begins to curdle. Beat in the vanilla, orange extract, orange zest, and Cointreau; fold in the remaining flour.
2. Divide the batter among the pans and bake for 25 minutes, until golden and just firm. Turn out onto a rack to cool.
3. Make the syrup while the cakes bake. Boil the water, sugar, and Cointreau, then simmer for 3–4 minutes until slightly syrupy. Cool, then brush over the sponges.
4. For the chocolate-hazelnut mixture, roast the hazelnuts for 5 minutes, until pale golden. Process them until they become a nut butter. Melt the milk chocolate and add it to the processor with the sugar, cocoa, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt. Blend until smooth.
5. Whip 200ml cream with 100g mascarpone until firm. Beat in about 2 tbsp of the chocolate-hazelnut mixture, adding more to taste. Transfer to a piping bag with a roughly 1cm opening; reserve the remaining chocolate-hazelnut mixture.
6. Whip all the orange-cream ingredients until firm. Put half into a second piping bag with a 1cm opening and reserve the rest.
7. Anchor one sponge to a cake board with a little orange cream. Spread it with about 1 tbsp of the reserved chocolate-hazelnut mixture. Pipe chocolate cream in a spiral, stopping about 1cm from the edge, then pipe a ring of orange cream around the perimeter. Add the second sponge and repeat with the remaining piped creams. Top with the third sponge, spread it thinly with the remaining chocolate-hazelnut mixture, and cover the top and sides with the reserved orange cream. Chill.
8. For the collar, melt the white chocolate gently and split it between two bowls. Tint one gray with black gel. Lay the acetate strips flat and splatter them thickly with white chocolate. Chill for 10 minutes. Spread the gray chocolate over the strips to about 2mm thick, then chill for roughly 5 minutes—long enough to set, but not so long that it snaps.
9. Wrap the pliable chocolate strips around the chilled cake, pressing them against the sides. Chill for 15 minutes. Peel away the acetate only when the collar is firm.
10. Make the brittle. Melt the sugar in a heavy pan over medium heat, shaking the pan rather than stirring, until deep golden. Add the chopped hazelnuts, swirl to coat, and pour onto a lined sheet. Cool completely.
11. Melt the extra 25g white chocolate and drizzle it over the brittle. Once set, break the brittle into shards and arrange them on top of the cake. Serve.

Baker’s tips

• Have the acetate measured and the cake chilled before you melt the collar chocolate. This is a choreography recipe: preparation is what makes the flourish look easy.
• The gray chocolate should be firm but flexible when wrapped. If it cracks, warm it for a few seconds; if it droops, chill it briefly.
• Do not stir dry caramel once it begins to color. Swirl the pan to even it out and add the nuts only when the sugar is deep golden.
• Use a food-safe acetate or a commercial cake-collar strip. Never use office plastic or an unverified craft material against food.
• The source recipe uses liqueur in both sponge and syrup. For an alcohol-free version, replace the Cointreau in the sponge with orange juice and use orange juice plus water in the syrup; note that this is an editorial substitution, not the published formula.

Make-ahead

Bake and syrup-brush the sponges one day ahead; wrap once cool. The chocolate-hazelnut mixture and brittle can be made two days ahead and stored airtight. Assemble and chill the cake the day before. Make the chocolate collar on the day of serving, or the night before if your refrigerator is stable and dry; keep the brittle sealed and add it shortly before serving so it stays crisp.

Cake Week field notes

Plan the cold work first. Both Series 9 Showstoppers depend on chilling: Rahul’s buttercream coats and hidden center, Ruby’s cream layers and collar. Clear refrigerator space before you start.

A handshake is not a license to improvise the lore. Ruby and Rahul were both praised in the same Series 9 Showstopper, but Rahul’s handshake came first and made history as the first for that challenge. Sophie’s handshake belongs to a different series and a Signature brief. The distinctions are part of the fun.

Use the source page as the final authority for the recipe. Ingredient brands, pan sizes, and local flour conventions vary. The official pages linked in each entry are the publicly published recipes credited to these bakers; this chapter’s voice and US conversions are editorial presentation, not a claim that the recipes were newly created here.

Steven Carter-Bailey’s Bonfire Night Spiced Apple Cake

The handshake card

• Baker: Steven Carter-Bailey
• UK series: Series 8 (2017)
• Week: Week 1, Cake Week
• Challenge: Signature
• Handshake fact: Steven’s fruity Bonfire Night cake earned Paul’s handshake in the opening Cake Week bake, with warm spice and tender apple doing the quiet heavy lifting.
• Yield: 10–12 servings
• Difficulty: Friendly, with a caramel moment
• Official recipe timing: 1 hour 45 minutes total; 45–50 minutes baking
• Source: Bonfire Night Spiced Apple Cake, Relaxed Recipes

A clear note about the source

This is a complete public recreation/adaptation, not Steven’s private tent formula. Relaxed Recipes calls it an enhanced version inspired by Steven’s bake and gives the full method: a softly spiced apple cake, apricot seal, and toffee glaze. That is the recipe on this card; the handshake story remains Steven’s.

Why it earned the handshake

A Bonfire Night cake should feel like the first cold evening that still smells of woodsmoke and apples. The source method builds that feeling without making the cake fussy: apple is folded through a warmly spiced crumb, then a dark toffee glaze gives the edges their little bonfire glint. It is a generous home-kitchen stand-in for the bake Paul tasted in the tent, not a claim to have recovered Steven’s original quantities.

Ingredients

Spiced apple cake

• 315g (2½ cups) all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp fine sea salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ¾ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• 170g (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 200g (1 cup packed) light brown sugar
• 100g (½ cup) granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp apple extract, optional
• 180ml (¾ cup) whole milk
• 60ml (¼ cup) apple cider
• 4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
• 2 tbsp flour, for coating the apples

Toffee glaze and finish

• 200g (1 cup) granulated sugar
• 60ml (¼ cup) water
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup
• 60ml (¼ cup) heavy cream, room temperature
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 120g (½ cup) apricot jam
• 2 tbsp brandy or apple cider
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Chopped toasted walnuts, optional

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan and line the base with parchment.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom in a bowl.
3. Beat the butter and both sugars until very pale and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and optional apple extract.
4. Toss the diced apples with the 2 tbsp flour. Mix the milk and cider together. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture in two additions; begin and end with flour. Mix only until combined, then fold in the apples.
5. Spread the batter in the pan and bake for 45–50 minutes, until golden, springy, and clean when tested. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.
6. For the toffee, put the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan. Stir once, then cook over medium-high heat without stirring until deep amber, about 12–15 minutes.
7. Take the pan off the heat and let the bubbling settle. Carefully whisk in the cream, butter, salt, and vanilla; the mixture will surge. Cool for about 10 minutes, until thick but pourable.
8. Warm the apricot jam with the brandy or cider and lemon juice. Strain if lumpy, then brush it over the cooled cake. Pour the toffee over the top and let it run down the sides. Add walnuts while the glaze is warm, if using. Serve at room temperature.

Baker’s tips

• Flour the apple pieces with some of the measured flour, not an extra handful; it helps them stay suspended without toughening the crumb.
• A deep amber caramel tastes rounder than a pale one, but it can turn bitter quickly. Keep the pan moving with a gentle swirl rather than a spoon.
• The hot cream will bubble hard. Use a long-handled whisk and keep your face away from the pan.

Make-ahead

The cake can be baked a day ahead and wrapped once cool. Glaze it on the day you serve it so the toffee keeps its shine.

Dan Beasley-Harling’s Black Forest Slice

The handshake card

• Baker: Dan Beasley-Harling
• UK series: Series 9 (2018)
• Week: Week 2, Cake Week
• Challenge: Signature
• Handshake fact: Dan’s everyday Black Forest riff earned a handshake in the same historic Cake Week as Rahul and Ruby’s Showstoppers.
• Yield: 16 portions
• Difficulty: Easy, with a small chocolate-tempering flourish
• Official recipe timing: 45 minutes hands-on; 20 minutes baking
• Source: Dan’s Black Forest Slice, The Great British Bake Off

Why it earned the handshake

This is a Black Forest gâteau made to behave like an everyday traybake: cocoa and espresso deepen the sponge, fresh cherries keep it bright, and kirsch brings the familiar grown-up note. The little chocolate decorations are optional in spirit but lovely in practice. The tent may reward drama; Dan’s slice wins by making the drama easy to share.

Ingredients

Sponge

• 175g (1¼ cups) plain flour
• 25g (¼ cup) cocoa powder
• 1 tsp espresso powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 175g (¾ cup) unsalted butter
• 200g (1 cup packed) light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 200g (about 1½ cups) cherries, pitted and quartered
• 25g (¾ oz) 70% dark chocolate, finely grated
• 16 cherries in kirsch, drained

Decoration, Chantilly, and syrup

• 75g (2¾ oz) 54% dark chocolate
• 1g pure cocoa-butter powder
• 300ml (1¼ cups) double/heavy cream
• 50g (⅓ cup) confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 2 tbsp superfine/caster sugar
• 2 tbsp kirsch

You will also need a 25cm square pan, a thermometer, piping bags, and acetate or parchment.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C; 180°C fan). Grease and line the square pan. Sift the flour, cocoa, espresso, and baking powder together.
2. Beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then the eggs one at a time. On low speed, mix in the flour mixture and then the quartered cherries.
3. Level the batter in the pan and bake for 20 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then finish cooling on a rack.
4. Temper the 75g chocolate: melt it over simmering water to 113°F (45°C), cool to 93°F (34°C), then stir in the cocoa-butter powder and bring it to 88°F (31°C). Pipe 16 small decorations onto acetate or parchment and leave them to set for at least 30 minutes.
5. Whip the cream with the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until it holds a soft peak. Chill it. Warm the caster sugar and kirsch gently until the sugar dissolves, then cool the syrup.
6. Pierce the cooled cake with a cocktail stick and brush it with the kirsch syrup. Reserve one third of the Chantilly in a star-nozzle piping bag. Turn the cake top-side down, spread the rest of the cream over it, grate the 25g chocolate over the cream, and cut into 16 squares.
7. Pipe a swirl of cream onto each square. Finish each with a kirsch-soaked cherry and a chocolate decoration.

Baker’s tips

• Cool the cake completely before brushing on syrup; a warm crumb can turn the neat traybake soggy.
• Tempered chocolate is a concentration exercise. If the temperatures feel like too much, use melted chocolate decorations and call them rustic rather than pretending they are tempered.
• Keep the Chantilly cold until the last minute, especially in a warm kitchen.

Make-ahead

Bake the sponge and make the chocolate pieces a day ahead. Assemble with cream and cherries close to serving.

Rahul Mandal’s Bonfire Night Caramel Ginger Cake

The handshake card

• Baker: Rahul Mandal
• UK series: Series 9 (2018)
• Week: Week 5, Spice Week
• Challenge: Signature
• Handshake fact: Rahul’s caramel-ginger Signature brought him another handshake after his history-making Showstopper recognition earlier in the series.
• Yield: One large three-layer cake
• Difficulty: Needs skill
• Source: Caramel Ginger Cake, Relaxed Recipes

A necessary bit of honesty

This is a complete public recreation, not Rahul’s baker-original formula. Relaxed Recipes publishes it as a caramel-ginger cake associated with Rahul’s bake; its ingredients and method are the usable source. The television handshake belongs to Rahul’s Bonfire Night cake, while this card gives home bakers a clearly labelled route into its ginger, caramel, and honeycomb territory.

Ingredients

Cake

• 300g (2½ cups) plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 3 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 175g (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 150g (¾ cup packed) soft brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 4 tbsp black treacle
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 250ml (1 cup) whole milk
• 75g stem ginger, finely chopped
• 100g bonfire toffee, broken into small pieces

Caramel buttercream and sauce

• 4 large egg whites
• 200g (1 cup) superfine/caster sugar
• 300g (1¼ cups) unsalted butter, softened and cubed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g (about ½ cup) cooled caramel sauce
• 200g (1 cup) superfine/caster sugar
• 90ml (⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp) double/heavy cream
• 50g (3½ tbsp) unsalted butter
• 1 tsp sea-salt flakes
• Ginger honeycomb, broken into shards
• Extra caramel sauce, for drizzling

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and line three 8-inch (20cm) cake tins. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices, and salt together.
2. Beat the butter and brown sugar until light. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the treacle and golden syrup. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour. Fold in the stem ginger and toffee.
3. Divide the batter among the tins and bake for 25–30 minutes, until springy. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto racks.
4. Make the salted caramel. Heat the sugar in a heavy pan until deep amber. Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream. Stir in the butter and salt, then cool completely.
5. For the Swiss meringue buttercream, whisk the egg whites and caster sugar in a heatproof mixer bowl over simmering water until the mixture reaches 158°F (70°C). Whisk on high until cool and thick. Add the butter a piece at a time, then beat in the vanilla and cooled caramel sauce.
6. Level the cakes. Put the first layer on a plate and spread with buttercream; repeat with the other layers. Cover the cake with the remaining buttercream and chill for 30 minutes.
7. Warm a little reserved caramel until pourable but not hot. Drizzle it down the sides and finish with ginger honeycomb just before serving.

Baker’s tips

• Let the caramel cool fully before it meets the buttercream or the butter will soften into a puddle.
• Keep the toffee pieces small and the folding gentle; a heavy hand knocks the air out of the batter.
• Make space in the refrigerator before you begin. This cake likes a short, cold reset between assembly and decoration.

Make-ahead

Bake the layers one day ahead and wrap them well. Make the caramel and buttercream ahead, then bring the buttercream to a spreadable temperature and beat it briefly before assembling.

Kim-Joy Hewlett’s Stem Ginger Cake with Poached Pears

The handshake card

• Baker: Kim-Joy Hewlett
• UK series: Series 9 (2018)
• Week: Week 5, Spice Week
• Challenge: Signature
• Handshake fact: Kim-Joy’s stem-ginger cake, poached pears, salted caramel, and tiny gingerbread house turned a spice brief into a whole little landscape.
• Yield: 12 servings
• Difficulty: Needs skill
• Official recipe timing: 2 hours hands-on, plus chilling; 45 minutes baking
• Source: Kim-Joy’s Stem Ginger Cake with Cream-cheese Frosting & Salted Caramel, The Great British Bake Off

Why it earned the handshake

Kim-Joy’s cake is a small tent in itself: three dark ginger sponges, cold pears standing upright, salted caramel slipping over the frosting, and a gingerbread house for the top. The source is an official GBBO recipe, so the quantities and the charming construction stay close to the published method. Take the cold work seriously and the whole thing becomes much less wild.

Ingredients

Pears and sponges

• 3 conference pears, peeled with stems intact
• 40g dark muscovado sugar
• 1 star anise
• 2 pieces cinnamon bark
• 1 tbsp vanilla paste
• 3 green cardamom pods
• Water, to cover the pears
• 250g slightly salted butter
• 250g dark muscovado sugar
• 120g treacle
• 375g plain flour
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 4 tbsp ground ginger
• 300ml whole milk
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 100g crystallised ginger, chopped

Caramel, gingerbread, frosting, and icing

• 120g caster sugar
• 115ml double cream
• ½ tsp salt
• 75g slightly salted butter
• 50g dark muscovado sugar
• 1 tsp molasses
• 1½ tbsp beaten egg
• 110g plain flour
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 boiled sweet, crushed
• 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 280g full-fat cream cheese
• 600g icing sugar
• 100g walnuts, chopped
• 2 tbsp pasteurised egg white
• 100g icing sugar

Method

1. Put the pears in a pan with the muscovado sugar, star anise, cinnamon, vanilla, and cardamom. Add enough water to cover, bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes until tender but not soft. Drain, cool, and trim the bases so the pears stand.
2. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C; 160°C fan). Melt the butter, muscovado sugar, and treacle in a pan until the sugar dissolves. Sift the flour, cinnamon, and ginger into a bowl. Warm the milk, whisk in the bicarbonate of soda, and let it foam.
3. Whisk the warm butter mixture into the flour. Add the eggs and crystallised ginger, then the foaming milk. Divide immediately among three lined 8-inch tins and bake for 25–35 minutes, until risen and clean when tested. Cool for 5 minutes in the tins, then turn out.
4. For the caramel, put the caster sugar and 3 tbsp water in a pan. Cook without stirring until amber, swirling the pan. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream, then the salt. Cool and refrigerate until cold.
5. Make the gingerbread dough by creaming the butter, dark sugar, and molasses. Beat in the egg, then mix in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, and ginger. Chill for 20 minutes.
6. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C; 170°C fan). Roll the dough to ½cm thick. Cut two ends, two side walls, and two roof pieces for a small house, adding a window and door to one end. Put the crushed sweet in the window and bake for 6–8 minutes. Cool until hard.
7. Beat the frosting butter and cream cheese just together, then beat in the icing sugar until thick and smooth. Whisk the egg white until frothy and stir in the second icing sugar quantity to make royal icing. Use it to assemble and decorate the biscuit house.
8. Trim the sponges. Pipe one third of the frosting over the first sponge and add half the walnuts. Repeat with the second sponge, reserving a few walnuts. Finish with the third sponge, the remaining frosting, a spoonful of caramel, the pears, the house, and the reserved walnuts.

Baker’s tips

• Stop poaching while the pears still have a little backbone; they continue to soften as they cool.
• Divide the sponge batter quickly after adding the bicarbonate-and-milk mixture so the lift is shared evenly.
• Assemble the house only when the biscuits are cold. Warm biscuit walls are brave in theory and floppy in practice.

Make-ahead

The sponges, pears, caramel, and gingerbread pieces can be made ahead. Frost and assemble the cake on the day, once the caramel is cold and the cakes are level.

Manon Lagrève’s Italian Meringue & Lemon Ginger Cake

The handshake card

• Baker: Manon Lagrève
• UK series: Series 9 (2018)
• Week: Week 5, Spice Week
• Challenge: Signature
• Handshake fact: Manon’s tall ginger cake paired bright, sharp lemon curd with an Italian-meringue coat and earned a handshake in the tent.
• Yield: 16 servings
• Difficulty: Needs skill
• Official recipe timing: 1 hour 15 minutes hands-on; 20–25 minutes baking
• Source: Manon’s Italian Meringue & Lemon Ginger Cake, The Great British Bake Off

Why it earned the handshake

The cake is all contrast: dark treacle and ginger in the sponge, five lemons in the curd, candied lemon for chew, and glossy meringue to pull the whole thing into focus. The published recipe allows the sponges and curd to rest for up to three days, which is the sort of planning that keeps a showstopper from becoming a late-night negotiation with a saucepan.

Ingredients

Sponges

• 200g salted butter, room temperature
• 250g dark muscovado sugar
• 100g treacle
• 100g golden syrup
• 100g root ginger, finely grated
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 150ml whole milk

Lemon curd, candied lemon, and meringue

• 5 unwaxed lemons
• 2 sheets platinum-grade gelatine
• 150g caster sugar
• 100g root ginger, finely grated
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 3 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 100g salted butter, diced
• 200g caster sugar
• 2 unwaxed lemons, thinly sliced
• 25g 70% dark chocolate
• Syrup from the candied lemon
• 2 egg whites

You will also need three 8-inch (20cm) round tins, a sugar thermometer, piping bag, and kitchen blowtorch.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C; 160°C fan). Melt the butter, muscovado sugar, treacle, golden syrup, and grated ginger in a pan until the sugar dissolves. Cool for 2 minutes in a mixer bowl.
2. Add the eggs and ground spices. Stir in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder, then beat in the milk. Divide among the tins and bake for 20–25 minutes, until just firm. Turn out and cool.
3. For the curd, zest 3 lemons and juice all 5. Put the zest, juice, and gelatine in a pan and rest for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and both gingers. Beat the whole eggs and yolks together and stir them in.
4. Cook over very low heat for 5–7 minutes, stirring continuously, until thick. Do not let it scramble. Take off the heat and add the butter cube by cube. Chill for about 1 hour until softly set.
5. For the candied lemon, put 50ml water, the sugar, and sliced lemons in a pan. Boil, then simmer for 5 minutes until translucent. Strain, reserving the syrup. Dry the slices on a rack; keep 3 or 4 whole and snip the rest into small pieces.
6. Heat the reserved syrup. When it reaches 225°F (110°C), whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. At 244°F (118°C), pour the syrup into the whites in a steady stream while whisking, until thick, glossy, and stiff.
7. Spread curd over one sponge, scatter half the chopped candied lemon, and add the second sponge. Repeat, then top with the third sponge upside down.
8. Reserve 6 tbsp meringue in a piping bag. Cover the top and sides with the rest. Pipe small blobs in rows around half the top and brown them lightly with a blowtorch.
9. Melt the chocolate. Half-dip the whole candied lemon slices, chill on parchment for about 5 minutes, and set them into the meringue like little wheels.

Baker’s tips

• Keep the curd on low heat and stir all the way into the corners. Lemon curd rewards attention, not speed.
• The meringue syrup must reach temperature before it goes into the whites; a thermometer gives the glossy finish its best chance.
• Torch lightly and keep the flame moving. The aim is toasted edges, not a bonfire on the cake.

Make-ahead

The sponges and curd can be made up to three days ahead. Assemble and decorate the cake on the day you serve it, then eat within one day.

Maxy Maligisa’s Classic Apple and Walnut Cake

The handshake card

• Baker: Maxy Maligisa
• UK series: Series 13 (2022)
• Week: Week 6, Halloween Week
• Challenge: Signature
• Handshake fact: Maxy’s apple-and-walnut cake brought a classic autumn profile into Halloween Week and earned her a handshake.
• Yield: 12 servings
• Difficulty: Needs skill
• Source: Classic Apple and Walnut Cake, Relaxed Recipes

A clear note about the source

This is a full-method public recreation, not a baker-original formula. The source publishes a three-layer apple-and-walnut cake with yogurt, sticky apples, and caramel icing. It is a practical route to the flavour idea associated with Maxy’s handshake, while the card keeps that distinction visible.

Ingredients

Cake and filling

• 4 apples, plus 4 more for the filling
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 340g (1¾ cups) caster sugar
• 375g (1¾ cups) European-style butter
• 5 eggs
• 385g (3 cups) self-rising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 80g chopped walnuts
• 50g caster sugar
• 70g butter
• 350ml Greek yogurt

Caramel icing

• 75g butter
• 50g raw cane sugar
• 50g caster sugar
• 3 tbsp golden syrup
• 20g confectioners’ sugar
• 230ml heavy cream

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and line three loose-bottomed 8-inch tins.
2. Peel, core, and dice the first four apples. Put them in a pan with 100ml water and the golden syrup. Cook gently for 10–15 minutes, stirring often, until completely soft like applesauce. Cool fully.
3. Cream the butter and caster sugar until light. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the cooled apple sauce. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in the walnuts. Divide among the tins.
4. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the sponges bounce back. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.
5. Peel and core the remaining apples and cut them into matchsticks. Cook them gently with the 50g sugar and 70g butter, stirring until lightly caramelised. Drain and cool.
6. Put one sponge on a plate, spread with half the yogurt, and scatter on just under half the sticky apples. Repeat with the second sponge, reserving a little apple for the top, then add the third.
7. For the icing, heat the butter, both sugars, cream, and golden syrup gently until melted. Simmer for 7–8 minutes, stirring, until golden caramel. Stir in the confectioners’ sugar, then pour over the cake. Finish with the reserved apples.

Baker’s tips

• Cool the apple sauce before it enters the batter; warm sauce can soften the butter and rob the sponge of lift.
• Drain the sticky apples before layering so the yogurt stays creamy rather than sliding out.
• Pour the caramel while it is thick enough to sit on top but still warm enough to travel. It should look generous, not engineered.

Make-ahead

Bake the sponges and cook the apples one day ahead. Assemble and ice the cake once everything is cool.

Syabira Yusoff’s Spiced Apple Cake

The handshake card

• Baker: Syabira Yusoff
• UK series: Series 13 (2022)
• Week: Week 6, Halloween Week
• Challenge: Signature
• Handshake fact: Syabira’s Witch Apple cake earned a handshake with a playful, spiced finish and a proper autumn crumb.
• Yield: 12 servings
• Difficulty: Needs skill
• Source: Spiced Apple Cake, Relaxed Recipes

A clear note about the source

The published method is a full recreation, not Syabira’s original tent formula. Its cake method is paired with a punchy gochugaru, sumac, and asam boi yogurt, apple-powder crumble, and buttercream. The source ingredient list does not give the quantity of walnuts mentioned once in the cake instructions, so this version leaves them out rather than guessing.

Ingredients

Cake

• 4 apples
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 340g (1¾ cups) caster sugar
• 375g (1¾ cups) European-style butter
• 5 eggs
• 385g (3 cups) self-rising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Filling, buttercream, and crumble

• 1 tsp gochugaru (red chilli flakes)
• 1 tsp sumac
• 15g asam boi powder
• 350ml Greek yogurt
• 125g butter
• Pinch of salt
• 250g confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tbsp heavy cream
• 2 tbsp apple powder
• 250g all-purpose flour
• 125g cold butter
• 125g caster sugar

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and line three loose-bottomed 8-inch tins.
2. Peel, core, and dice the apples. Cook them with 100ml water and the golden syrup over low heat for 10–15 minutes, stirring often, until soft like applesauce. Cool completely.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until light. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the apple sauce. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold until just combined. Divide among the tins.
4. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the sponges spring back. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.
5. Mix the gochugaru, sumac, and asam boi powder through the Greek yogurt. For the buttercream, beat the butter and salt until creamy, beat in the sifted confectioners’ sugar gradually, then whisk in the cream.
6. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Rub the apple powder, flour, cold butter, and sugar together with your fingertips until crumbly. Bake on a tray for 15–20 minutes, until golden. Cool.
7. Put one sponge on a plate and top with half the spiced yogurt and half the crumble. Repeat with the second sponge, reserving crumble for the top, then add the final sponge. Pipe on the buttercream and finish with the crumble.

Baker’s tips

• The apple sauce needs to be genuinely cool. This is the quiet hinge of the recipe.
• Taste the spiced yogurt before layering; the chilli should arrive as a flicker, not flatten the apple.
• Let the crumble cool before it meets the yogurt so it keeps a little crunch.

Make-ahead

Bake the sponges and crumble ahead, cool, and store airtight. Layer the yogurt and buttercream on the day you serve the cake.

Illiyin Morrison’s Cinnamon-roll Loaf Cake

The handshake card

• Baker: Illiyin Morrison
• UK series: Series 15 (2024)
• Week: Week 1, Cake Week
• Challenge: Signature
• Handshake fact: Illiyin’s cinnamon-roll loaf cake earned a handshake in the opening week, with a pecan base and marbled cinnamon top that read instantly as comfort.
• Yield: 12 servings
• Difficulty: Friendly
• Source: Cinnamon-roll Loaf Cake, Relaxed Recipes

A clear note about the source

This is a full-method public recreation, not Illiyin’s baker-original recipe. The source gives a simple two-loaf method: pecans under a tender batter, cinnamon-brown-sugar swirled through the top, and a quick glaze. It is exactly the kind of low-drama bake that can make a home kitchen feel briefly like the tent on a good day.

Ingredients

Bottom layer

• 185g (1½ cups) chopped pecans
• 360g (3 cups) all-purpose flour
• 350ml (1½ cups) milk
• 200g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 1 heaped tbsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 55g butter, melted

Cinnamon layer and glaze

• 220g butter, softened
• 180g (1 cup) light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
• 200g (2 cups) confectioners’ sugar
• 5 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla powder

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two loaf tins; the source uses 10-by-5½-inch tins. Scatter the pecans evenly over the bases.
2. Mix the flour, milk, caster sugar, baking powder, eggs, vanilla powder, and salt. Stir in the melted butter and divide the batter between the tins.
3. Beat the softened butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon until smooth. Drop spoonfuls over the batter and spread them gently. Swirl the cinnamon layer through the batter with a knife or skewer, taking care not to drag up too many pecans.
4. Bake for 25–30 minutes, until risen and clean when tested.
5. Stir the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla powder into a smooth glaze. Drizzle it over the warm loaves and serve.

Baker’s tips

• The swirl only needs a few confident passes. Overworking it turns a cinnamon ribbon into a grey loaf.
• The source notes that loaf-tin sizes vary. If your tins are smaller, hold back a little batter rather than filling them to the brim.
• Glaze while the cake is warm enough to accept a little seepage but not hot enough to melt the glaze completely.

Make-ahead

The loaves are best warm, but they keep well wrapped for a day. Add the glaze just before serving.

Sumayah Kazi’s Autumn Leaves Harvest Cake

The handshake card

• Baker: Sumayah Kazi
• UK series: Series 15 (2024)
• Week: Week 6, Autumn Week
• Challenge: Showstopper
• Handshake fact: Sumayah’s two-tier Autumn Leaves cake earned the sixth documented Showstopper handshake, bringing parsnip, fennel, cumin, beetroot, ginger, and a harvest of decoration into one bold build.
• Yield: Two-tier cake, 12–16 servings
• Difficulty: Showstopper
• Source: Parsnip, Fennel and Cumin Cake, Relaxed Recipes

A clear note about the source

This is a full public recreation, not a baker-original transcription. The source presents Sumayah’s two-tier concept as a complete method: a parsnip-cumin-fennel lower tier, beetroot-ginger-walnut upper tier, treacle-cinnamon Swiss meringue buttercream, dehydrated vegetable leaves, and a chocolate collar. The method below keeps those boundaries plain while making the build readable at home.

Ingredients

Parsnip, cumin, and fennel lower tier

• 2 tsp ground cumin, lightly toasted
• 1½ tsp ground fennel
• 4 large eggs
• 220g soft light brown sugar
• 220ml mild vegetable oil
• 250g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of fine salt
• 300g finely grated parsnip

Beetroot, ginger, and walnut upper tier

• 3 large eggs
• 200g soft light brown sugar
• 180ml mild vegetable oil
• 230g plain flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 280g finely grated raw beetroot
• 90g toasted chopped walnuts

Buttercream and decoration

• 4 egg whites
• 220g caster sugar
• 320g soft unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp black treacle
• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1 small parsnip, very thinly sliced
• 1 small beetroot, very thinly sliced
• 300g dark chocolate, for tempering
• 2–3 tbsp blackcurrant jam, optional
• Cake dowels and a strip of acetate

Method

1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C; 170°C fan). Toast the cumin and fennel in a dry pan for 30–60 seconds, stirring constantly, then cool.
2. For the lower tier, whisk the eggs and brown sugar until pale and thick, then whisk in the oil. Fold in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, toasted spices, and salt, followed by the grated parsnip. Bake in a lined 8-inch (20cm) tin for 30–35 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out.
3. For the upper tier, whisk the eggs and sugar to a pale ribbon and whisk in the oil. Fold in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and ground ginger, then the fresh ginger. Fold through the beetroot and toasted walnuts. Bake in a lined 6-inch (15cm) tin for 28–32 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out.
4. Lay the thin parsnip and beetroot slices on a lined tray. Dry at about 210°F (100°C) for 1½–2 hours, until crisp and leathery.
5. For the buttercream, whisk the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl over simmering water until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 150°F (65°C). Whisk on high to a cool, glossy meringue. Beat in the butter piece by piece, then the treacle, cinnamon, and salt.
6. Temper the chocolate by melting it to 113–122°F (45–50°C), cooling to about 81°F (27°C), then warming to 88–90°F (31–32°C). Pipe branch-like lines onto acetate cut to the height and circumference of the stacked cake. Chill until just set and flexible.
7. Level and split both sponges. Sandwich each with buttercream, adding a thin layer of jam if using. Crumb-coat both cakes and chill. Stack the smaller tier on the larger one, using dowels in the lower tier for support.
8. Wrap the chocolate branch collar around the chilled cake. Chill until firm, peel away the acetate, and finish with the dried beetroot and parsnip leaves.

Baker’s tips

• Grate the parsnip and beetroot finely and squeeze neither; their moisture is part of the crumb’s balance.
• Support is not an admission of defeat. Dowels let the upper tier sit calmly while you make the decoration beautiful.
• Work with the chocolate collar while it is flexible. If it sets hard, it will choose its own branch shape.

Make-ahead

Bake both tiers and dry the leaves ahead. The buttercream can be made a day early and re-whipped. Assemble the cake and collar once the tiers are chilled.