It's best to make the soft caramel first so as to allow it to cool and thicken. Place the sugar and 2 tbsps of water into a saucepan and swirl around to help melt as much of the sugar as poss.

Place on a medium heat and bring to the boil. Caramel can be troublesome but be brave. Don't stir and wait until the mixture starts to turn a golden brown. I remove it straight away and wait for ten seconds or so to check it isn't ready as depending on your saucepan it can carry on deepening in colour even when off the heat. If it needs a little more colour then place it back on the heat until you're satisfied. Watch it well as it can burn so quickly. If it crystallises then bin it and start again with a completely clean pan.

Remove from the heat and add the cubed butter and cream. It will splutter but just carry on whisking to combine the lot and make sure the mixture is smooth and not grainy. Allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 170 C and grease or line with bakoglide two 20cm sandwich tins. Mix the dry ingredients for the cake in a large bowl or free standing mixer. Melt the butter, chocolate and coffee together in a saucepan over a gentle heat. Take it off the heat and beat in the buttermilk and the beaten eggs.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and beat well. Pour the batter into the tins and bake for about an hour or until the cakes are springy to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Watch closely to check that the edges don't burn.

Allow to cool in their tins for ten mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing I simply put all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz until smooth.

When ready to put this baby together then spread a layer of the chocolate icing on the underside of one of the cakes and then a generous layer of the caramel sauce on the other. Gently sandwich the two together. Carefully spread the remaining icing on the sides and top of the cake. I decorated the top of my cake with caramel shards but chocolate shavings would look great or you could just let it speak for itself. It's more than capable.

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