Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180c.  Line the sandwich tins with circles of baking parchment paper and spray the edges with baking spray if using.

In a large bowl, cream the fat and sugar until extremely soft and fluffy. You can use a hand mixer, stand mixer or do it by hand.

One by one beat in the eggs and lemon extract. Beat in the flour until smooth but do not over mix.

Decant the batter into the cake tins dividing equally. Bake in the middle of the oven for around 20 minutes until a skewer or cake tester comes out cleanly.

Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. When the cakes are cool, use a serrated knife to level off the tops and make them flat. (You won’t need to bits so they can be eaten straight away!)

Meanwhile make the yellow buttercream by beating together the softened butter and icing sugar. My preferred method to do this is in the food processor covered with a damp tea towel to stop icing sugar getting everywhere. Alternatively you can use a stand mixer or do it by hand.

Use a dab of gel food colour to get the desired shade of yellow. Liquid food colour is fine for this but may make the icing runnier so add more icing sugar to compensate.

Decant the icing into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.  Squeeze icing onto the bottom layer of the cake so that the crinkly icing can be seen at the edge. Turn the other sponge upside down and gently position on top.

Pipe outward petals on top of the cake to create your sunflower. Pipe a spiral in the middle which you then cover with the sprinkles or chocolate chips. Transfer the cake to a pretty plate and serve!