Tender Lemon Cake...B'day bake for my babeeee

It was Ro's birthday last week and i decided to surprise him with a 4-layer cake with decorations and all that jazz. Did numerous searches online for cake decorating and went and bought everything only to realize i picked up the wrong baking flour..yeah i picked up wholemeal self-raising flour for cakes and bakes. Since i didn't want to waste the 1 kg flour, I decided to continue with it. It wasn't bad at all..although its like a mental block that AP flour should be used for cakes and bakes and i cant wait for it to get over asap, so i can buy some AP flour.

After I started, i realised it was going to be quite tedious and so cut down the four layer to two and the decorating bit...went for a toss. I learnt two lessons...not to shop in a hurry, no matter what and 2, cake decorating and icing is not my cuppa tea..i don't have the hand nor the patience for it. Next time, i should just stick to a general cake or maybe even buy one instead of slogging it out in the kitchen.

Lemon Cake (adapted from www.marthastewart.com)

AP Flour- 2 1/4 cups

Butter- 12 tbsp

Baking powder- 2 1/4 tsp

Sugar- 1 1/2 cups

Eggs- 3

Buttermilk- 3/4 cups

Lemon zest- from one medium lemon

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Heat the oven to 172 C, butter an 8 inch square or round tin.

Mix the flour, baking pwd and salt together in a mixing bowl.

In another bowl, with an electric beater on medium-high, beat the butter till light and fluffy. Add the sugar continue to beat. Reduce speed and add the eggs one by one, mixing well after each. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mix and buttermilk, alternatively...starting and ending with flour. Stir in the zest.

Pour the batter into the baking tray and cook till a toothpick comes out clean (I took a little over an hr). Remove and cool on a rack.

Basic butter frosting

Butter- 2 tbsp

Confectioners sugar- 1 cup

Milk- 2 tbsp

Colouring- 1/2 tsp (optional)

Vanilla extract-1 tsp

Cream butter and sugar well and add the extract, colouring and milk until mixture is smooth or consistent as per your requirement.

Once the cake has completely cooled, slice it in half and spread a thick layer of icing in between and sandwich the cakes. If you want icing on top, you can do so as well. Decorate with sugar shavings, figures etc.

Notes: For the cake, i thought the lemon zest was a bit too strong, so i would def. reduce it the next time. I used a red colour and mixed it well so i got a pinkish tint

My consistency was all wrong and i suffered while spreading the icing.

PS: Ro said the only thing missing was a 'My little Pony.' He was a bit taken aback with the pinks and purples and stars... So im naming this the 'My Little Pony' Cake.

Also, a Happy Valentines day you guys. Join in the stereotype and be all mushy and swishy and pink!