Beehive Cake

FOR THE CAKE

• 175 g (6 oz) soft margarine
  
• 75 g (3 oz) soft brown sugar
  
• 80 ml (4 Tbs) clear honey
  
• 3 x size 2 eggs, separated
  
• 175 g (6 oz) self-raising flour
  About 60 ml (3 Tbs) milk
  
• 25 g (1 oz) Cadbury Bournville cocoa
  1 lemon
  
• Yellow food colouring (optional)
  

TO DECORATE

• 350 g (12 oz) Vanilla Butter Icing (to make see below)
  
• 125 g (4 oz) lemon curd
  
• 1 Cadbury Flake family box
  

A 1.1 litre (2-pint) ovenproof basin, greased lightly, bee and flower cake decorations (optional)

Vanilla Butter Icing

• 175 g (6 oz) slightly salted butter
  
• 250 g (9 oz) icing sugar
  
• Vanilla essence

Soften the butter, but do not melt in the oven or it will be too soft.  Cream the butter well in a bowl, preferably with an electric mixer.  Sift in the icing sugar and a few drops of vanilla essence; beat really hard until the mixture has a good fluffy texture and is pale in colour.

For the cake, cream the fat and sugar with 60ml (3 tablespoons) of the honey. When well beaten, add the egg yolks, then the flour and milk to make a dropping consistency. Halve the mixture, adding cocoa to one amount, and the finely grated lemon rind and colouring, if used, to the other. Whisk the egg whites and fold half into each mixture. Spread alternate coloured layers in the basin, then hollow out the centre a little. Bake at Gas Mark 4/180ºC/350ºF for about 1¼ hours, until cooked through.

Test with a warm skewer. Heat the remaining honey in the juice of half the lemon and then soak the cake with this, in the basin, poking it in with a skewer. Leave for 5 minutes before turning out to cool.

Cut the cake horizontally through twice, making three pieces. Have the butter icing ready. Mix a good spoonful of lemon curd into the icing. Use the remaining lemon curd to sandwich the cake together