Watch part 2 of how to make a simple celebration cake here
Acting cookery editor Suzannah Butcher takes you through all the steps you'll need to make a beautiful 3 tier celebration cake.
Find our triple-tested celebration cake recipe in the June issue of Good Housekeeping, on newsstands 8 May 2014.
Step 1 : Lining tin
Lightly oil the base and sides of a loose bottom or springform cake tin with baking parchment. Wrap the outside of your tin in a strip of newspaper about 7 layers thick, tying securly with string. This helps protect the outside of the medium and larger cakes whilst they are in the oven.
Step 2: Slicing cake
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Slice cakes once they are completely cool as they are easier to cut. Remove the baking parchment from the cake base and place your cake on a turn table. To cut the dome of your cake off, put your hand on top of the cake and, with your serrated knife level, slowly turn the cake in front of you marking where you intend to cut. Once you have made a mark all the way around the cake, slowly saw through the dome to the other side and discard the dome. You can go back over the cake top gently with your knife to level.
To cut in half, repeat the turning action, marking where you intend to cut through the middle of the cake. Saw through to the other side. Make a small incision in the side of the cake to remind you how the two halves of your cake fit back together.
Step 3: Brushing on sugar syrup
Once two cakes are cut into four layers, you can assemble the tier. If you haven't already done so, remove the baking parchment from the base.
Brush the syrup over the sponges slowly in 10 minutes intervals to allow all the syrup to be absorbed. This prolongs the cake's shelf life by a few days and makes for a delicious flavour and moist texture.
Step 4 : Spreading buttercream and jam
Choose the cake with the most evenly baked base and set it aside. When upturned, this layer will be visible as the top of your tier. To avoid putting unnecessary pressure on the cake layers and icing beneath them, prepare each layer separately, then stack. Spread buttercream right to the edge of the remaining three layers of the cut cake. Spread jam over the central part of the cakes, leaving a 2cm (3/4in) border. You can brush jam to the edge if desired but it will ooze out of the layers creating a more home-made effect.
Click the links below for more triple-tested cake recipes and baking ideas:
Watch part 2 of how to make a simple celebration cake here
10 of the best triple-tested sponge cake recipes
Make your cake look stunning with advice from Stefi Jakab
15 of the best triple-tested baking recipes
Find our triple-tested celebration cake recipe in the June issue of Good Housekeeping, on newsstands�8 May 2014.�
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
