Cake part 2: Ultimate carrot cake

This was a cake to mark a half-century. It had to look good. It had to taste better. Who does one turn to in these situations? Why, Delia, of course. I'm sure Nigella's and Lorraine's creations are wonderful, but I needed to know that it would turn out exactly as it was supposed to - and I reckon you can't beat Delia for that.

The birthday girl loves carrot cake, so that was a fairly easy decision. Delia's produced a few carrot cake recipes over the years, but only one described as "the ultimate", so that was another fairly easy decision. It's full of good things - not just carrots but nuts, sultanas and coconut, plus orange zest and spice for flavour. Then you pour over a drizzle of orange and lemon juices, for extra flavour and moistness.

I went off-piste and devised my own frosting, which was a simple combination of full-fat cream cheese, some icing sugar and a touch of cinnamon.

But how to decorate it? I made mini carrots from marzipan. I spent a long time mixing red and yellow food colouring and not quite achieving the bright shade of orange that I wanted. Still, they didn't look too bad, considering it's the first time I've ever attempted marzipan carrots. But next time, I think I'd just decorate it with walnut halves. 

I've definitely never had so many compliments for a cake. My favourite was the person who said: "Now that's how you make a cake."

Unlike my last cake, this one certainly wasn't low in fat, but boy, was it worth it.