Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and line three 20cm/8" tins with parchment paper.
Beat together your butter and augar until light and fluffy.
Add in your flour, eggs, and spices! Beat until smooth and yummy.
Split evenly between the three tins, and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes (or until baked through)
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, and then on a wire rack to cool fully.
For the Buttercream!
Make sure your butter is at room temperature.
Beat your butter until smooth and supple.
Add in the vanilla extract, and the spices, and beat in.
Gradually add in the icing sugar and beat again until smooth!
If it's really too stiff, add in 1tbsp boiling water at a time till you get your desired consistency. However, make sure to beat the ingredients for at least five minutes first as it doesn't always need it!
For the Decoration!
Get your first sponge on a board and secure with a smidge of the buttercream underneath. Add on 1-2tbsp of buttercream and smooth over.
Add on the second sponge and repeat, and then add on the third sponge.
Smother the sides and top in a thin layer of buttercream to seal it and make the edges smooth, and leave to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or 10 minutes in the fridge.
Once dried/set, you have done your crumb coat.
Add on more buttercream all over the cake, and smooth round with a large cake scraper, and keep any you scrape off.
Melt your 100g of dark chocolate for the drip, and mix in the oil if using. Carefully drip down the sides of the cake with a small disposable piping bag with the end snipped off.
Leave the drip to set for 10 minutes or so.
Whilst the drip is setting, make any extra decorations if using - I used 100g of dark chocolate mixed with 1tsp of ground ginger melted together and set in a Christmas tree shape mould in the fridge until solid.
Once the drip is set, pipe on your leftover buttercream in swirls using your favourite piping tip, and add a gingerbread man per swirl.
Also, sprinkle on your favourite Christmas sprinkles, and add your chocolate ginger Christmas trees to the centre.