Pipe ‘Happy Birthday’ onto the cake (or a message of your choice) and use the remaining royal icing to stick the piped flowers onto the top and sides of the cake.

The success of this cake is in the bananas — they must be ripe, over-ripe even, to ensure the cake is moist — and in the rich, buttery chocolate icing, lots of it.

A homemade birthday cake ... oven and take the cakes out of the tins after about 10 minutes. Place the cakes on a wire rack to cool completely. To make the buttercream icing, sift half the icing ...