Easter Egg Cake

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

2. Line the cake tins with parchment paper.

3. Sieve the flour, sugar and lemon freshly grated lemon zest into a bowl. Whisk the egg, milk and oil together in a separate bowl.

4. Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and mix well.

5. Divide evenly between the three tins, bake in the preheated oven until well risen and golden on top for 30-45 minutes approx.

6. When the cake is fully cooked, it will have shrunk in a little from the sides of the tin. A skewer inserted into the centre will come out clean.
   
   To make the buttercream:

7. Put the egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a food mixer, rest over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until the egg whites reach 80°C. Whisk on maximum speed in the food mixer until stiffly whipped and cool. With the machine running, add the freshly grated lemon zest and butter, one piece at a time until it is fully incorporated. If the mixture begins to look curdled, continue to whisk until it re-emulsifies.

8. Spread a layer of buttercream on 2 cakes, sandwich the three layers together. Ice both the top and sides of the cake and decorate as desired.

9. For this Easter Egg Cake, we make Easter Egg Nests to embellish the top but have fun, use your creative streak and get the kids to participate.