Help, I have to make a cake for my mothers 70th that looks presentable

[Chumhum]

And I'm no baker. I have limited ability, is there an idiot proof cake I can make that will look ok? I'm a bit intimidated by a group of older ladies who can in all likeliness make cakes.

Where do you live? Any where near Teesside?

No, more West than East.

Don't try and bake one that is too big. With a large cake you run the risk of not getting it evenly baked. Better to bake a couple of smaller cakes, perhaps od different types to cater for all tastes, or a couple of the same type and join them together under icing.

Could you do what I've seen for weddings - a small cake surrounded by lots of cupcakes - I would find that less intimidating than a big cake.
Say you fancy a pink theme - could then decorate with a plain buttercream/cream cheese frosting/other icing, then buy some ready made decorations in the chosen colour. A larger one for the cake - say a nice edible rose, put a nice ribbon round the sides (I find sides very difficult to ice nicely) and then smaller matching pink decorations on each cupcake.

p.s I find that carrot cake recipes are often pretty easy because they can be made with oil and don't require you to cream butter and sugar together to make the cake light and fluffy. I am not an amazing baker so may be worth seeing what the experts have to say!

What kind of cake were you thinking you'd like to make? Are you going for simple or fancy decoration?

How about you make a Kitkat cake - looks impressive but is actually very easy and the Kitkats (or chocolate fingers) can hide a lot of imperfections!