Happy Birthday Joe...

Perfect Birthday Cake (from How to be a Domestic Goddess)

This quantity will fill a 12" square tin!

You'll need

500gms plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

.5 tsp salt

400mls buttermilk

3 tsp vanilla extract

250gms unsalted butter

400gms caster sugar

6 eggs

Method

Mix the flour, salt, bicarb, and baking powder together in a bowl.

Then in a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the eggs, one by one, with a spoon of flour, into the mix while mixing all the while.  Add the rest of the flour and buttermilk and blend to a smooth batter.

Bake at 180c for about 40 minutes or until a cake skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin, and then turn out onto a wire tray.

When the cake is cool, run a serrated bread knife through lengthwise to create a top layer and a bottom layer.  Don't worry if it breaks a bit, icing covers all tracks! 

Draw a template onto a sheet of parchment, which you have cut out using the cake tin as a guide.  Then cut out the template and lay on top of the cake, cut around it using a bread knife.

Fill the cake with freshly whipped cream and strawberry jam.  Ice using egg white icing, prebought is just as good, I go for Supercook White Frosting!