Preheat your oven to 180°C [325°F] or 160°C fan. Generously grease a 9 inch donut tin (silicone or metal) with sunflower oil or butter.

If needing to, grate whole carrots to the weight of 150g with a cheese grater now.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar and sunflower oil gently with a wooden spoon.

Add the eggs and mix in with the wooden spoon. No need to beat vigorously here.

Gently mix in the grated carrot until well incorporated.

Sieve the flour into your mixture. Add the bicarbonate of soda. Spoon in the ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and mixed spice. Mix everything together with your wooden spoon until the flour is no longer visible. Be careful not to over mix.

Pour the mixture into the greased donut shaped tin. Place the tin onto a baking tray for easier manoeuvring. Slide the tray onto the middle shelf of your oven and bake for 30 - 35 minutes until baked.

Your cake will be ready when a skewer/cocktail stick comes out clean when tested; the surface springs back when gently pressed on with your finger, and you hear little to no bubbling/crackling sound when you listen to your cake.

Once baked, leave the cake to cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then leave to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack before removing.

While your cake is cooling, make your cream cheese frosting.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until it is nice and smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat into the butter until smooth.

Add half of the icing sugar and beat in. Add the remaining sugar and beat in until your frosting is light and fluffy.

When your cake is cool, remove it from the tin upside down. Place it on a flat plate or chopping board.

Spread the frosting over the surface of the cake. I found this easiest when using an offset palette knife, then a rubber scraper to spread the frosting evenly over the curves of the cake. Make the frosting as smooth as you possibly can so that your white chocolate mirror glaze will be as smooth as possible on application! If needed, pour boiling hot water on the palette knife you are using to smooth your frosting, wipe it dry and very gently press this onto the frosting to smooth it over.

Put your cake in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.

If needed, chop your white chocolate into smaller pieces. Add the chocolate to a medium sized bowl and drop in the food colouring. You don’t need much to achieve a yellow/gold colour.

Pour the mixture over the chocolate and food colouring. Mix briefly, then leave to melt for around 5 minutes. Be sure to mix every now and again during this time to prevent a ‘skin’ from forming on the top of the mixture.

After the chocolate has melted fully, use an emulsion blender to blend the mixture briefly until smooth. Make sure to keep the entire end of the blender under the surface of the mixture to prevent bubbles forming.

Pour the white chocolate mirror glaze through a sieve and into a clean bowl. Be sure to pour the mixture through the sieve while holding the sieve as close to the clean bowl as possible. If you pour the mixture from a height, you risk bubbles forming.

Rapidly twist the bowl in your hands to check for any bubbles. If any come up, use a cocktail stick to gently pop them individually.

Cover the white chocolate mirror glaze with cling film/plastic wrap, making sure to gently press the cling film/plastic wrap to the surface of the glaze to prevent a ‘skin’ from forming.

Allow the glaze to cool on the side for up to 2 hours or until the glaze reaches 30°C [87°F]. My glaze cooled to this temperature in less than an hour, so it depends on the temperature of your kitchen. Do not let it get much cooler than 30°C as it will be harder to pour smoothly.

If wanting to chill the glaze overnight, leave on the side for 30 minutes, then place in the fridge. When ready to use it, heat it up in a bain marie [double boiler] to the above temperature and strain through a sieve into a jug.

When your glaze is at the right working temperature, retrieve your cake from the fridge. Carefully slide two large knives or palette knives under your cake. Lift it from the plate/chopping board and put it back on your wire rack. Slide a clean baking tray underneath the wire rack. This will catch the excess glaze as you pour it.

Strain your glaze one more time into a jug, making sure to minimise the height of the glaze falling as much as possible.

Pour the glaze from the jug confidently over your cake in circular motions until the cake is completely covered.

Once the cake has stopped dripping, slide your two large knives or palette knives under the cake carefully - trimming the drips in the process - and lift onto a cake stand/board/plate.

Chill in the fridge while you make your ‘grass’ buttercream.

Beat the butter in a bowl to loosen it. Add half of the icing sugar and beat in until smooth. Beat in the remaining icing sugar and beat until the buttercream is light and fluffy.

Squeeze in a few drops of the green food colouring and beat into the buttercream until an even colour is achieved. Add more here if necessary.

Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag/sandwich bag with a multiple-hole piping tip attached.

Retrieve your white chocolate mirror glaze cake from the fridge. Pipe the buttercream around the cake to create the ‘grass’ of the Shire. Squeeze at the base of the cake, then release and pull at the same time to ‘drag’ the buttercream ‘grass’ shards up onto the sides of the cake. Be careful not to touch the glaze with your piping tip by accident!