THIRTY-TWO eggs, 5kg of marzipan and 6kg of icing: this is the Christmas Cake to feed 300.

Julia Atkinson, better known to sugar lovers as Happy Cakes baking company, has made the triumphant triple-tier tower to be served at a Christmas Day feast for people with nowhere else to go.

Oxford Food Bank is expecting to feed more than 300 elderly, lonely and homeless people with a slap-up roast dinner at the Kings Centre in Osney Mead, West Oxford.

And when it came to the Christmas Cake, there was only one person they could ask.

Mrs Atkinson, who lives with her husband Barrie and their two children in Summertown, said: "They asked if I could make a big cake and I said 'yes of course'.

"Then they said 'actually, could you make it a huge cake?'

"They're expecting more than 300 people so it is a big deal, but it is a really worthy cause and so close to home.

"Working with food, it's nice to think you can donate something that has come from you, that is close to your heart."

Mrs Atkinson, who has been selling her cupcakes around Oxford for seven years, embarked on her Christmas challenge cake by getting out the biggest cake tin she owns – 14 inches across.

She then topped it with two smaller cakes, each one individually iced and decorated, and finally, on top, the coup de grace – a miniature Oxford Food Bank delivery van.

She used 2kg of butter, 2kg of sugar and 2kg of flour.

She handed over the marzipan mountain to an Oxford Food Bank delivery driver on Wednesday and when Cathy Howard at the food bank clapped eyes on it she emailed Mrs Atkinson straight away to say: "That is quite literally the most fantastic cake I have ever seen."

It will take pride of place at the centre of the table for the lunch.

Mrs Howard said the Christmas Day lunch was dreamt up by volunteers with two ideas in mind: "To find a use for the huge food surplus available in the week before Christmas, and to provide a community meal on the one day of the year when many of the charities we supply are closed."

She went on: "It has become a massive community effort, with help offered from all quarters but we were especially delighted when Julia offered to make a big happy cake for our guests.

"It will help us ensure that everyone ends the day with a smile on their face."

Set up seven years ago, Oxford Food Bank works with more than 60 charities across Oxfordshire to feed the county's hungry and homeless.

The Christmas Day lunch runs from 12.30pm to 4pm and the centre can accommodate up to 600 people.

Food bank co-founder David Cairns MBE urged more people to come along, adding: "We hope this event will attract not just families struggling to cope with the cost of Christmas, or those who might be on their own on the big day, but anyone who wants to help tackle food waste and join in with a community celebration."