This buttercream stripe effect is really easy to do, but so effective and really customisable to whatever theme you are baking for. Britt Box (shewhobakes.co.uk) shows you how…

Technique Focus

THE BASICS

I find this effect looks best on deep or double-height cakes, but with thin enough stripes it would also look great on a single-tiered cake. I’ve used two 18cm (7in) round vanilla cakes stacked on top of one another for this project. I find a Madeira recipe is sturdy enough to stack the cake in this way without needing dowels, plus it stands up to the several coats of buttercream!

FOR THE MADEIRA CAKE

(Double if making a double-height cake)

• 200g (7oz) caster sugar

• 200g (7oz) unsalted butter/Stork

• 4 free-range eggs

• 200g (7oz) self-raising flour

• 50g (1¾oz) plain flour

• 1 tsp vanilla

1 Preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas Mark 2½. Cream together the butter/Stork and caster sugar. Add the eggs and mix well.