Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180c.  Line the sandwich tins with circles of baking parchment paper.??2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the fat and sugar until extremely soft and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one by one followed by the lemon juice. Beat in the flour until smooth but do not over mix.

Divide the cake batter into the three lined sandwich tins equally. Bake in the centre shelf of the oven for around 20 minutes until a skewer or cake tester comes out cleanly.

Let the sponge cakes cool for a few minutes before removing them from their tins and transferring 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. ??7. To make the buttercream icing, in a large mixing bowl beat the icing sugar into the butter. When smooth, beat in the lemon juice and gel food colour until you have the desired shade.

Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with large star nozzle.

Of the cooled sponge cakes, choose which has the most level shape and even colour underneath and set this aside for the top layer.

Take one of the other sponge cakes with the cut surface upper most and pipe buttercream over the surface. Press the second cake on top and pipe buttercream upon that. Press the third cake on top with its base upper most.

Paste buttercream into any gaps between the layers so it is reasonably even. Decorate the top simply with buttercream roses, lime slices and Greek basil sprigs. Transfer to a plate or cake stand to serve.