Preheat the oven to gas 4 / 180c.  In a large bowl, beat the buttery style margarine and caster sugar together until smooth. (You can use an electric mixer if you like although this type of margarine is soft enough to beat manually).

Beat in the eggs one by one. Finally fold in the flour and cocoa powder until the batter is just smooth.

Decant the batter into three 6inch loose bottomed round baking tins lined with non stick baking paper. Bake in the middle of the oven for 18-20 minutes.

When the cakes are springy to the touch and a cake tester comes out cleanly, leave in their tins to cool slightly before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the icing by beating the rest of the buttery margarine with one third of the icing sugar at a time. When combined, add the milk and creme de chatâignes and beat until smooth.

When the sponges are completely cool, use a serrated knife to level off their tops so to form a flat cake. Save some discarded bits of sponge (although it's fine to let bystanders scoff the rest).

Place the first layer on a pretty plate and slather the surface with icing. Build up the other layers alternating between sponge and icing. Use a small palette knife to tidy up the top but don't worry too much about perfection. This is a casual cake!

Scatter sponge crumbs around the edge of the top layer and then dot on whole hazelnuts. This cake will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container.