Ombre buttercream iced amasi cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease 3 baking tins. To make the plain cake, place 200g butter, 200g sugar and 1/2 cup honey in a saucepan and melt over a medium heat. 
2. Once the sugar has dissolved and the ingredients are incorporated, allow the mixture to cool slightly before whisking in 1 cup amasi. 
3. Sift 350g flour, 2tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt together. Add this flour mixture, alternating with the 2 beaten eggs, to the honey mixture. Mix well, then pour into a baking tin and bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. 
4. To make the coffee cake, repeat the method above, adding a mixture of 4Tbsp of espresso in 3Tbsp of boiling water to the cake batter. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. 
5. To make the chocolate cake, melt 200g butter, 200g sugar and 1/2 cup of honey as for the plain cake. Sift 350g flour, 100g cocoa, 2tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt together and add, alternating with 2 beaten eggs, to the honey mixture. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
6. To make the icing, place 500g butter in a large mixing bowl and cream using an electric hand-mixer. Slowly add 2kg icing sugar while beating until all the icing sugar is incorporated. Divide this into 5 portions. Mix the 1Tbsp vanilla extract into 3 portions of icing, the 2 Tbsp coffee into 1 portion and sift 2 Tbsp cocoa into the remaining portion. You should have 1 coffee icing, 1 chocolate icing and 3 portions of vanilla icing. 
7. To assemble the cake, place one of the cakes onto a cake stand and lightly spread with a layer of vanilla icing using a large palette knife. Top with another layer of cake and do the same. Top with the final layer of cake. Thinly ice the outside and top of the cakes with more vanilla icing, taking care not to use it all. This is called crumb coating.
8. Chill the cake for 10 minutes. Remove from the fridge and ice the top of the cake with the coffee icing, smoothing it with the palette knife. Ice the middle of the cake with the remaining vanilla icing, and the base with the chocolate icing.
9. Using the palette knife, smooth the three colours together, allowing them to blend slightly to create an ombre effect. 
10. To make the brandy snap crown, preheat the oven to 180°C. Place 55g butter, 55g treacle sugar and 55g golden syrup into a small saucepan over a medium heat. Gently heat until the butter has just melted and the sugar has dissolved. Sift in 55g flour and 1/2tsp ginger and stir in 1/2tsp lemon juice. Pour the mixture onto a silicone baking mat on a baking tray and spread out evenly using a palette knife. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the brandy snap from the baking mat using a palette knife and wrap around a large glass. Hold in place until it has cooled and hardened. While the brandy snap is still warm it can be moulded by hand, but as soon as it firms up it will become too brittle to handle. Once hardened, place the brandy snap crown on top of the cake.

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