I recently received a brief from a client to make a white cake for a birthday celebration. She wanted a vanilla sponge; the cake had to be white; on a different cake stand (so not a normal cake stand) and she wanted one white candle in the cake. We trawled through Pinterest together and we found a white coconut decorated cake. This was the easy part.

All you need is two layers (cut each in two so you have four layers) of vanilla sponge cake and a big batch of vanilla icing. For the outside you only need coconut flakes. So first ice the cake and then with you hands … just gently push the coconut onto the cake. That’s it.

The cake stand proved to be the biggest problem. What did my client mean by ‘something different’? Well, I went to a few second-hand shops and eventually I found this retro thick glass light fitting. Yes, a light fitting off all things! It worked perfect with the cake… so dreamy and beautiful. I loved it and so did she.