Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Grease or line a pair of 20cm (8in) sandwich cake tins.

Place the flour, softened butter, caster sugar, baking powder, vanilla extract and eggs into a bowl or electric mixer.

Beat thoroughly until smooth, then tip half the mixture into one tin and spread out (you want the cakes to be as flat as possible).

Put a few drops of food colouring into the remaining half of mixture and mix until well distributed, creating a pink sponge mixture. Tip into the second tin, evenly spread, then bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

When cooked, remove from the oven and turn out of the tins onto a cooling rack.

Warm the apricot jam with 4 tbsp of water to loosen.

Once the cake is cool, level off the tops of the cakes (if necessary) to make them as flat as possible. Use round cutters on both cakes, removing alternate circles. Spread plenty of jam around the outside of the removed circles and inside where appropriate, slotting them back into the alternate cake to create 2 layers of alternate coloured sponges. (The jam ensures the sections stick together, so make sure you use enough). Jam the top of one layer before placing the second layer on top. Use a knife or pastry brush to spread jam over the whole cake.

Shape the marzipan into a circle and roll out on a lightly dusted surface of icing sugar into a larger circle just big enough to cover cake. Lay the marzipan over the cake, easing it with the palm of your hand to create a smooth finish. Alternatively, cut 200g (7oz) marzipan to roll out a rectangular strip long enough to wrap round the cake and just a little wider than the cake height, joining 2 straight ends. Roll the remainder into a disc to place on top of the cake and pinch the joins together.

You could colour some or all of the trimmings and decorate as you wish.