Remove the top layer and spread a small amount of the buttercream onto the base layer, ensuring you fill all the way to the edges. Place a small amount of buttercream in a piping bag and pipe a strip around the edge of the base cake to act as a dam. Fill the inside of the dam with a small amount of jam, if using, and spread it out evenly. Replace the top sponge, then cover the entire cake with a thin layer of buttercream to seal in all of the crumbs. This is a really good template for any sort of character cake. Once you have an iced base, you can decorate with any kind of design you like – just do a Google image search for your favourite characters. To make the buttercream icing, whisk the butter well until smooth and very pale. Gradually add the icing sugar, a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and up to 1 tablespoon of water to loosen, if needed. Add the gel colouring a little at a time, mixing well until the desired shade is achieved. Cover the bowl and set aside (ideally overnight) until ready to use. The colours will continue to develop over time, so don’t panic if the colour isn’t right immediately.

Fill the hollow with the coloured sweets. With my version, I separated out all of the yellow sweets to put these at the top to look more like treasure. Put gold coins on top of these. To make the buttercream, beat the butter with an electric whisk or table-top mixer until soft. Sieve in the icing sugar, then beat for 10 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla, orange extract (if using) and milk, and beat briefly to combine. Using an offset palette knife, spread the chocolate buttercream onto the base sponge around its top edge, up to 4cm in from each side. Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk or in a stand mixer until light and creamy. Thoroughly beat in each egg, one by one. With the base cake and the submarine covered in fondant now is your time to get creative with fondant decorations!

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Warning: this is a big cake! It’s made of four separate chocolate sponge cakes. Make each sponge cake one at a time with 4 large eggs, 225g unsalted butter, 225g caster sugar, 175g plain flour, 50g cocoa powder and 2½ tsp baking powder. You might want to make the sponges over a few days, in which case wrap them well in cling film to prevent them from drying out.

Take the first layer of cake and put onto your cake board. Spread a thin layer of buttercream onto the bottom cake and smooth with an offset spatula. Add a thin layer of jam (around 2tsps smoothed out) on top of the buttercream. Spread a thin layer of buttercream onto the bottom of the next cake layer and lay the next sponge on top of the cake. To make the chocolate buttercream, beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric hand whisk or in a stand mixer. Pour in the icing sugar and cocoa powder and mix slowly on the lowest setting on your mixer until completely incorporated. Add a tablespoon of milk at a time to the mixture if you need to soften the buttercream. The smaller sponges for the submarine have the same ingredients as the cakes above but baked in a loaf tin, greased and lined with baking parchment. Each cake takes a mix of 2 large eggs, 112g unsalted butter, 112g caster sugar, 112g plain flour, 1½ tsp baking powder and the zest of 1 lemon (plus the juice of half a lemon) in each cake. This cake is made from two large sponges cut into two layers each, so there are four layers inside the cake. Make the sponge cakes one at a time with 4 large eggs, 225g unsalted butter, 225g caster sugar, 225g plain flour and 2½ tsp baking powder in each cake. You might want to make the sponges in advance, in which case wrap them well in cling film to prevent them drying out.

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Sift in the rest of the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and fold them in. Be gentle but make sure the mixture is fully combined, including any flour at the bottom of the bowl. Put this into the baking tin, smooth the batter out with an offset palette knife and bake for 40-45 minutes. Try to take the photo as good quality, in focus and well-lit as you can. Daylight is often the best. Preheat the oven to 180oC / 160oC fan / gas mark 4. Take your springform cake tin, line with baking parchment and grease well.

Put the butter, sugar and vanilla paste into a bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until light and creamy. Thoroughly beat in the egg This cake is made from two large sponges cut into two layers each, so there are four layers inside the cake. Make each sponge cake one at a time with 4 large eggs, 225g unsalted butter, 225g caster sugar, 225g plain flour, 2½ tsp baking powder and the zest of 2 lemons (plus the juice of 1) in each cake. You might want to make the sponges in advance, in which case wrap them well in cling film to prevent them drying out. Repeat until it is a four layer sponge cake (sponge, buttercream, jam, buttercream, sponge, etc.). Coat the entire cake in a thin layer of buttercream and smooth with an offset palette knife. Please make sure that there are no brands, logos or anything identifiable on the child's clothes, such as a school jumper. Make two cakes in the loaf tin as per the instructions above but bake for 35 minutes at 180oC / 160oC fan / gas mark 4.Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold them in. Divide the mixture into 12 mini cupcake cases and bake in the oven for around 10 minutes. I have a mini cupcake tin, but if you don’t you can place the mini cupcake cases in a normal cupcake tin

Colour small amounts of fondant icing with all the colours you will need and wrap each ball in cling film to prevent it from hardening or drying out. Colour some of the white icing with the claret gel colouring, before cutting out a mouth shape with a sharp knife. Place this in position under the eyes. Cut two triangle shapes from the white icing and add these to the bottom of the mouth to form the teeth. You can ‘glue’ them into place with a little water.I wrapped coat hanger wire in fondant for the antenna – if you do this keep an eye on your kids (or grown-ups) to make sure they don’t try and bite into this! I usually avoid using any non edible materials in cakes but here it was unavoidable. Sift in the rest of the flour and baking powder and fold them in. Be gentle but make sure the mixture is fully combined, including any flour at the bottom of the bowl. Put this into the cake tin, smooth the batter out with an offset palette knife and bake for 45-50 minutes. Sandwich the two layers together with buttercream and add a light crumb coat of buttercream around both cakes. To make the buttercream, beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric hand whisk or in a stand mixer. Pour in the icing sugar, add the vanilla paste and mix slowly on the lowest setting on your mixer until completely incorporated.