My recent favourite bake has to be Sweet Shop Cake I made for my brother-in-law’s birthday and I’ve been meaning to post about it for a little while now, and thought it was about time I did!

I got this recipe from the latest Sweet Magazine as soon as I saw it I knew I had to make it. The vanilla sponge has chocolate M&M’s mixed through it and the buttercream icing has sherbert yes sherbert in it. Finished off with a selection of your favourite sweeties on the top. It’s a dream cake! I changed the recipe slightly, it said to just pipe the icing in the middle and a ring around the top, but having the sweet tooth I do I piled it on all over and there was plenty to do this, the recipe for the buttercream also said to use one packet of sherbert dib dab but for me I couldn’t taste it so I added another, it was still not enough so upped it to 3. So the best thing is to just add one at a time until your preferred taste. The temptation with this cake is to decorate the whole of the cake with sweets and I was having so much fun putting the sweets on I almost did, but held back thinking it may make it too sweet, something I have done before. It’s ok the remaining sweets that didn’t make it on to the cake didn’t go to waste! :)

For the cake:

200g Softened butter

200g Caster Sugar

4 Eggs Beaten

200g Self Raising Flour sifted

1tsp Baking Powder

About 2sp Baking Powder

1 x 125g pack of chocolate M&Ms Crushed

Sweets such as Dolly Mixture, Jelly Babies, Skittles

For the Sherbert Buttercream Icing

400g Butter at room temperature, diced

560g Icing Sugar

1-3 Packets of Sherbert Dib Dab, (Sherbert Only)

Serves 8-10

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/ fan 160/ gas mark 4. Grease and line two 20cm round sandwich tins

2. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, add a tablespoon of four with the final egg to help prevent curdling. Fold in the remaining flour and baking powder until thoroughly combined. Stir in enough milk as you need to reach a soft dropping consistency. Mix in the M&Ms until well combined.

3. Divide the mixture between the two tins spreading it evenly and smoothing to the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

4. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden on top and the cake springs back when gently pressed. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

The M&Ms will sink to the bottom while baking, so make sure you turn the cakes out as soon as they come out of the oven to prevent them sticking.

For the buttercream

1. Beat the butter to soften, then sift in the icing sugar a little at a time mixing well to combine. Add the sherbert and mix until thoroughly combined and the buttercream is a firm piping consistency.

2. Once the sponges are completely cool ice  the cake with the sherbert buttercream. You can either pipe half the mixture into swirls about 2cm wide on the bottom layer and then remaining mix in swirls around the outside of the top. Or like mine slather it all over and pipe swirls around the top.

3. Decorate the middle of the top layer with your chosen sweets.

4. Cut a large slab and enjoy :)

(All credit to Jo Christy for this recipe.)