These dainty cakes are a labor of love! Use melted chocolate or ganache to decorate them after the fondant dries or pick up some pre-made, small royal icing shapes to stick on. You can store them in the fridge for about two days if they don’t all disappear in one go.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F and line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

For the cake, combine butter, cream cheese, and sugar at medium-high speed in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle until creamy and light in color. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for about 10 seconds on medium speed after each one. Add vanilla extract and continue beating, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula, until mixture is smooth, light, and creamy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture until ingredients are completely combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula as needed.

Split batter between prepared baking sheets and spread with a spatula so batter is even and smooth. Transfer to oven to bake for 15 minutes, or until cakes spring back when pressed lightly. Cakes will still appear very pale when baked completely.

While cakes are cooling, use a rolling pin to roll marzipan into a thin 8x8-inch square. Cut the square in half to make two 4x8-inch rectangles.

After cakes have cooled completely, cut each into four even rectangles. Transfer each piece to a clean surface. Spread lemon curd evenly on the first piece. Spread jam on the second piece. Lay the rolled-out marzipan on the third piece. Leave the last piece plain—this will be your top layer. Gently stack the cake pieces, finishing with the plain piece on top. Repeat with next set of prepared layers. Put the cakes in the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm up.

Remove cakes from the freezer. Make notches in 1½-inch intervals along the width and length of each cake. With a serrated knife and using the notches as a guide, cut across each cake to make even 1½-inch squares. Transfer the cake squares to a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet. Cover cake squares with plastic wrap and place in freezer.

For the white chocolate fondant, melt the chopped white chocolate in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water (a.k.a. a double boiler or bain marie), stirring occasionally. In a separate large bowl, sift powdered sugar. Add hot water and corn syrup to sifted sugar and fold with a spatula until combined. Stir in melted white chocolate until smooth. If the consistency of the fondant is too thick, mix in more hot water 1 teaspoon at a time.

Remove cake squares from the freezer. Place one cake square on a fork and dip the bottom into the fondant. Lift the cake and spoon more fondant over the top until the sides are coated. Lightly tap the fork on the bowl to remove excess fondant. Return cake square to wire cooling rack to set. Repeat process for the remaining cake squares.

Let fondant set for about 1½ hours, then decorate as desired.