Birthday tomorrow and I don't understand cake

[thesurgeonsmate]

I am planning to make a cake for dd's first birthday, but have realised a little late in the day that I don't really understand cake, we don't really eat it. Attendees at cake eating will be adult reatives, one person aged three (who loves cake) and one person aged 10 months. I want to make a simple cake. When I was small I liked a lemon sponge for my birthday, I didn't really like cake otherwise. If I follow a Victoria Sponge recipe is it pointless unless I make two and sandwich them together with whipped cream and jam (much too much last minute effort when I get home from work.)? Would a more buttercream type filling be easier? I don't think I like butercream type fillings, though. Is there a moister sort of simple cake where I could just make one and ice it with lemon juice/icing sugar icing?

Simple cakes can be delicious - no need to make more work and stress for yourself than you need. Victoria sponge might be a bit over-plain unless it's sandwiched with something, though. Why not a classic lemon drizzle? They're great to eat and dead simple to make, and you can do the lemon icing thing too. That way you'll enjoy it as well.

There are great, easy cake recipes you can look at right here on MN - if you google BBC Good Food, they have some excellent ones too.

I'm sure other people will have good suggestions!

You mention lemon!
I made a lemon drizzle cake this wkend for MiL
Waitrose.com for recipe
Omg it was so easy and delicious
About 6 lemons
Self raising
Caster sugar
5 eggs I think
Butter

Top tips
Use hand whisk if you can borrow one
Let all ingredients come to room temp over day if needed
One cake tin but baking parchment it as well as grease with butter
When taking cake out oven listen to it. If it's bubbly inside put it in another 3-5 mins. Listen again
When cutting through cake for filling, turn cake on the knife not knife thru cake
Good luck and enjoy eating it!

Right, I'm ready to make my lemon drizzle. Since it's going to form it's own crust, so I thought full on icing might be a bit much. So I've bought some drawing icing and some wafer flowers. Thought I'd scatter flowers and then draw leaves. Do you think that if I did this tonight the icing leaves would sink or disappear?

Gosh, this stuff doesn't just come back to you from Home Ec. I struggled with instruction to "cream butter and suger", possibly through may failure to follow MayDay's advice re letting ingredients warm up. It's in the oven now, though. Icing decision looms.

Ooh, it's starting to smell bakey and I can see the top all smoothed out and turning golden. Looks as if it might yet be a cake.

OK, so I stopped posting last night when it became clear I'd have to make the icing decision by myself. Which I did. Anyway, many thanks for the drizzle idea. The cake was well-received and I quite enjoyed it too!