French fancies

Read the full method, check the stated equipment and prepare every listed ingredient. Keep dough, filling, wash, topping and handling groups separate. Weigh edible parts as described in the ingredient list.

Heat the oven to 160°C fan.

Allow about 15 minutes of heating in total and check that the oven has reached 160°C fan.

Grease and line the square tin.

Cream cake butter and cake sugar until pale, add cake eggs gradually, then fold in cake flour, cake vanilla and cake milk.

Spread batter evenly in the stated prepared tin or tins. Keep within the source tin capacity and bake any surplus separately.

Check the oven has reached the stated setting and carefully put in the prepared tray or tin.

Bake at 180°C conventional / 160°C fan for 25–35 minutes, until springy and a skewer comes out without wet batter. Do not open the oven early.

Take the bake out of the oven and set it on a heatproof surface.

Leave in the tin for 10 minutes.

Loosen gently and move to a rack.

Cool completely on the rack before filling, icing or slicing; allow about 50 minutes.

Warm and sieve top apricot jam.

Trim the dome flat, brush with warm jam and cover with top marzipan rolled to about 3 mm. Trim to fit.

Chill for 30 minutes before cutting.

Beat buttercream butter, buttercream icing sugar, buttercream vanilla and enough buttercream milk for a smooth spread.

Cut equal squares according to yield. Spread a thin layer of buttercream around the sides and pipe a small dome on each top.

Chill for 45 minutes.

Mix coating icing sugar, coating colour and enough warm coating water for thick flowing glaze. Put cakes on a rack over a tray and spoon glaze over tops and sides, guiding with a palette knife. Collect drips and reuse promptly.

Leave for 1 hour until the coating is firm enough to handle.

Melt coating chocolate gently.

Cool until fluid but no longer hot.

Pipe fine diagonal chocolate lines and put cakes in paper cases.