Method (orange curd)

1. In a small bowl, add in the corn flour and water. Stir together into thick paste.
2. Add the cornflour paste, dairy-free butter, sugar, orange juice, orange zest and condensed milk into a medium sized saucepan.
3. Place the saucepan on the hob and heat over low to medium, stirring constantly, preferably with a whisk. After around 5-8 minutes the orange curd will thicken. If the curd isn’t thickening, turn up the heat and constantly whisk.
4. Pour the curd into a heat proof jar or bowl, cover and place aside to cool down.
5. You can either put it in the fridge or keep it at room temperature to cool. Before you use it, give it a good stir as it will thicken.

Method (cake)

1. Preheat your oven to 180℃ fan and line two, 6 inch loose base / push up cake tins with grease-proof paper.
2. In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine. Stir in the orange zest.
4. Add the oil, orange extract and orange zest in to the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
6. Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
7. Pop the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.
8. Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully. Once cool, pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.

Method (buttercream)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter, whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
2. Sift in the icing sugar and pour dairy-free milk and orange extract, whip on high speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate it.
3. Add in a drop of orange food gel to colour the buttercream a pale orange / light peach colour (optional).
4. Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or cake stand. Dollop some of the buttercream on top and spread out until even using an off-set spatula or pallet knife.
5. Make a well in the middle of the buttercream and fill with 2 – 3 heaped tablespoons of orange curd.
6. Lay some mandarine or orange segments over the curd then place the second cake layer on top. Press it down gently so it sticks. Coat the whole cake with a thin layer of buttercream. This creates a crumb coat. 
7. Place the cake into the the fridge to set for 10- 15 minutes.
8. Remove the cake from the fridge and apply a second coat, this time thicker. Create decorative lines in the buttercream by dragging an off set spatula though the buttercream in a vertical pattern.  
9. Transfer any left over buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star-tip nozzle. Pipe a swirl of buttercream around the top edge of the cake, and fill the middle in with orange curd.
10. Slice up an orange. Dry the segments on some kitchen paper to soak up any excess moisture. Press the orange slices on the sides of the cake, finishing off with a mint leaf for decoration.
11. Slice and enjoy!