It's a crime to waste buttercream

I had no idea the effort that went into making a proper buttercream. First you have to make a french meringue using a sugar syrup then beating egg whites and cream of tartar for eternity. Then slowly pour in the syrup while it's still hot at the same time as avoiding being scalded. Once you have beaten for another eternity, you beat in the 650g of butter, cube by cube. Can you believe that much butter is involved, I had to triple check. But I can say it was worth it. What an amazing result. A perfectly smooth, glossy, pure white cream for my cake. It really was the "icing on top of the cake".

So, when I had leftovers after making my chocolate and buttercream cake on the weekend, I thought I'd take the opportunity to whip up another cake from the Miette cookbook and treat my workmates. This time I went for the hot milk cake, which to me seems just like a sponge. Similar process, just a few more ingredients. Check out the results: