White chocolate raspberry and buttercream candle cakes

Use a sharp knife to trim the sides of the sponge roll so it stands up straight vertically. Secure it to a small cake stand or candle holder with a bit of buttercream icing underneath.

Cut the 3 vanilla cupcakes in half horizontally and sandwich two halves together to form a short cake, then sandwich the remaining halves to create a taller cake. Secure with wooden skewers, if necessary.

Frost all the candle cakes with the buttercream icing, making sure to coat them completely.

Finely chop the white chocolate and place it in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium heat, stirring every 30 seconds until the chocolate is smooth. Make sure it’s at room temperature before using.

Place the melted chocolate in a small piping bag or zip-top bag and snip off the end. Slowly pipe the chocolate down the sides of the cakes, creating a drip.

Wait 5 minutes for the chocolate to set before piping a second layer of drip onto each cake. To speed up this process, place the cakes in the freezer for a couple of minutes between piping a new layer of chocolate. You want to build up the drips until you’ve created a layered effect.

Using a sharp knife, trim the wax off the birthday candles to reveal the wicks, leaving approx. 1cm of wax intact at the bottom of each candle.

Place 1 candle on top of each cake, pressing down until the 1cm of candle wax is pushed into the sponge.

Light the wicks when ready to serve.