Glamour Puds

Let's hope this cake is the only dramatic part of the nuptials, as Eric Lanlard, from Channel 4 show Glamour Puds, dishes up a zesty wedding treat

Makes an 8 inch lemon cake (you also need one 6 and one 10 inch cake, adjust quantities accordingly)

• 300g unsalted butter
• 300g caster sugar
• 5 medium eggs (beaten)
• 350g sifted plain flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• Rind of one lemon
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice

To assemble the cake

• 25cm/ 10 inch round cake
• 3 kg light pink sugar paste
• 20cm/ 8 inch round cake card
• 15cm/ 6 inch round cake card
• 30 cm/ 12 inch cake drum
• 35cm/ 14 inch cake drum
• 8 dowel rods
• 500g royal icing
• 200g petal paste
• Edible dyes both liquid and powder
• Petal dust in various colours

Equipment

• Rolling pin
• Butterfly cutter
• Small pieces of foam
• Ball tool
• No. 2 paintbrush
• Soft brush
• Greaseproof paper
• Plastic flower stamens
• Tweezers

How to make dramatic wedding cake with lemon cake centre

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4. Butter and line the cake tin.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy using a hand mixer starting at slow speed and increasing as the mixture loosen up.

3. Gradually add the eggs, beating well.

4. Fold the flour and baking powder with the lemon rind and juice into the cake batter.

5. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and bake in a preheated oven for 1½ hours until golden brown and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

6. Cover the cake drums and cakes with pink sugarpaste. Place the largest cake on the cake drum then stack the other two cakes on top, finishing with the smallest cake.

7. Use 4 dowling rods for each tier to support the cake. These are inserted into the cake and the next tier placed directly over them. Make sure they are exactly the same length as the thickness of the tier.

8. To make the butterflies, colour the petal paste with powder and roll it out. Use cutters to cut out about 24 butterflies. Remember to cover all spare petal paste with cling film so that it doesn't dry out.

9. Rest the butterflies on a piece of foam and use a ball tool to create indentations along the edges of the wings to give them shape.

10. Hold the wings at different angles with pieces of foam and leave them to dry.

11. Paint details on the wings with a fine paintbrush in a colour to compliment the petal paste.

12. Use a soft paintbrush to paint a complementary colour petal dust on the wings.

13. Divide the royal icing into as many parts as colours you are using and colour it to match the butterflies. Make a piping bag from a piece of greaseproof paper, fill it with royal icing in a colour to compliment the butterfly and snip the end off the bag. Use the icing to attach the butterflies to the top and sides of the cake.

14. Using the rest of the coloured icing, pipe a zigzag line up the butterflies' bodies and add a blob for the heads.

15. Attach plastic flower stamens for antennae and hold them in position in the royal icing with tweezers until set.

© Eric Lanlard