No birthday is complete without a cake... And so as Norwich brand Colman's is celebrating its bicentenary, the team at the Carrow factory enlisted the help of students from City College Norwich to design three fitting cakes to mark the occasion.

The cakes, designed and baked by the team of 20 students with lecturer James Phillippo, are exact replicas of a giant Colman's English Mustard tin – the original product of pure mustard flour, as sold 200 years ago by founder Jeremiah Colman.

The 12 layers of vanilla sponge used per cake, sandwiched between rich chocolate Italian butter-cream filling, measured 32cm in length, standing 30cm high and 22cm wide, and the three cakes were big enough for employees to enjoy while marking the special day with a barbecue and the planting of a tree in Abbey Green.

Colman's factory manager Andy Watts said: 'We feel very proud to be celebrating such a significant milestone – a 200-year anniversary is a very big moment for a brand, and it has been made extra special for us by celebrating with students who baked the fabulous Colman's-inspired cakes.

'Colman's is synonymous with Norwich and our bicentenary is a wonderful opportunity to look back at our history in the area, with the community, and remember where it all began – with Jeremiah Colman's tinned mustard flour, which still graces kitchen cupboards all around the country today.

'Many of our employees at Carrow have worked at the factory for years – and many even have parents and grandparents who were involved in mustard milling at the site, so we feel very proud of our Norwich heritage.'

Joe Mulhall, of City College, said: 'It is an absolute honour for our Hotel School students to be able to demonstrate their baking skills to celebrate and support such an iconic local business which is such a key part of Norwich's heritage.'

Colman's connection with the area dates back to 1814 when Jeremiah Colman moved to Stoke Holy Cross, four miles south of Norwich, taking over a mustard and flour business based on the River Tas.

The business moved to Carrow, to land bought from the Norfolk Railway Company, in 1850 – where, more than 150 years later, the factory still stands.