Ingredients (makes 2 cakes)
200g Mortons Self-Raising Flour, plus extra for dusting
200g unsalted butter at room temperature, extra for greasing
200g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
4 medium eggs
Gel food colouring, good quality
Buttercream Icing:
210g butter softened
420g icing sugar
2-3 tbsp milk
Star sprinkles or hundreds and thousands to decorate
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C/ 170F/ Gas Mark 5 and grease two 20cm sandwich tins and add a light dusting of flour
2. Cream the butter, caster sugar and vanilla extract in a medium sized mixing bowl until pale and creamy in texture
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time and then fold in the Mortons Self-Raising flour until combined
4. Evenly divide the mix into two bowls and mix 3-4 drops of good quality gel food colouring through the mix, quickly and lightly, until the colour takes
5. Place the now coloured mixes into their separate sandwich tins and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean and the cakes are springy to the touch
6. Allow the cakes to cool for 5 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely
7. Make a start with the buttercream icing by placing the butter in a large mixing bowl and beating until soft.
8. Add in half of the icing sugar and mix until smooth. Add in the remaining icing sugar and add in 2 tablespoons of milk and mix until smooth. Add in more milk if the mixture needs loosening.
9. Once the cakes are cooled, layer the cakes on top of one another in any colour order, spreading a good amount of buttercream between each cake right to the edges. Spread the buttercream over the top and around the sides of the cake using a palette knife or cake scraper to get a clean even spread.
10. Decorate the top and sides of the cake with star sprinkles or hundreds and thousands before the buttercream sets.