First birthday smash cake

For the cake

• 100g butter, room temperature, softened

• 100g caster sugar

• 100g self-raising flour

• 2 medium eggs

• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

• 2 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jam

For the buttercream icing

• 75g butter, softened

• 150g icing sugar, sifted

• 1-2 tbsp milk (if needed)

• Blue, yellow and pink gel food colouring

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line your 2 sandwich tins with baking parchment.

2. Cream together the softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, until pale and fluffy.

3. Beat in a tablespoon of the flour and 1 egg, then repeat with another tablespoon of flour and the second egg, plus the vanilla if using. Fold in the rest of the flour until you have a smooth cake batter.

4. Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden and a cocktail stick inserted into the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean.

5. Leave to cool for five minutes in the tins, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

6. While the cakes are cooling, make the icing. Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, then gradually add the icing sugar. Keep beating until you have a pale and fluffy icing.

7. Add a little of the milk to thin the icing to your desired consistency - if needed. You may not need all of the milk. The icing should be soft but thick enough to pipe and hold its shape.

8. Divide the icing into three smaller bowls - adding a bit more to the third bowl as this will be used to ice the top as well. Add a few drops of blue to one bowl, pink to the second and yellow to the third. Whisk the colours into the icing.

9. Once the cakes have cooled completely, spread the jam on top of one of the sponges, and then sandwich together.
   

10. Add the coloured icing to disposable piping bags with a star-shaped nozzle attached. Pipe rose-shaped swirls around the bottom third of the cake.

11. Pipe the second layer of swirls around the middle of the cake, overlapping slightly.

12. Pipe the final layer of swirls around the top third of the cake and the top of the cake. Finish with a 1-shaped candle.