If I were to choose a slice of cake to indulge in then normally it would be chocolate cake. My OH however isn’t a massive fan of chocolate cake and seeing as it was his birthday this week I thought it would be nice to make something special for him. Unfortunately as with all good plans something came up.. Or lots of things actually. Spots. My oldest daughter has chicken pox and is suffering with it so my time for baking has been limited.

I would never let him have a birthday without a homemade cake so at 11.30pm a few nights ago I was still hard at work in the kitchen making a fairly simple but tasty cake. It’s not extravagant or perfectly decorated but its definitely indulgent!

For the cake:

You will need..
4 Large eggs (pref free range)
225g Golden caster sugar
225g SR flour
2 tsp baking powder
225g softened butter
Zest of one lemon
1tsp lemon extract ( not essence! I used Sicilian lemon from Morrisons)

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4. Grease and line two sandwich tins (20cm)

Place all ingredients into your mixing bowl or food mixer and either beat with a wooden spoon until smooth or mix at a high speed for a few minutes until lump free and a smooth consistency. Divide between two tins and bake for 25 minutes or until golden and will spring back when pressed lightly. Remove from tins carefully and cool on a wire rack before filling and icing.

For the buttercream filling and topping:

125 g soft butter
250 g icing sugar, sifted
Juice of 1 small lemon
50g of dark chocolate

Beat your butter until smooth and gradually add in your icing sugar then your lemon juice and blend well.

Use half as a filling and half to top your cake. Grate some dark chocolate over the top.

Enjoy.