Rainbow Cake

A recipe for Nora...

Rainbow cake for a fairy birthday party

A friend of mine has asked for this recipe which I will duly give.  The photos for this are not amazing but will do for the purpose of explanation.

The easiest way to make a rainbow cake.

Any plain white sponge recipe will do. I used a nice simple victoria sponge. Sponges are best baked 2 at a time and then frozen. When decorating it is a lot easier to put the frosting on a frozen sponge especially because this cake will end up being a lot higher than your average sponge cake. You will need food coloring for your layers (red, yellow, blue) - keep in mind your little rhyme (Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain) and you can't go wrong. You want the red sponge at the top of the cake - it looks better to have the cooler colors at the bottom.

Sponges

225g/8oz butter at room temperature

225g/8oz caster sugar

4 medium eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

8oz self raising flour

Milk, to loosen if needed

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F

Grease and line 2 x 18cm/7in cake tins with baking paper.

Cream the butter and the sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla extract.

Fold in the flour using a large metal spoon, adding a little extra milk if necessary, to create a batter with a soft dropping consistency.

Pour half the mixture in a separate bowl and color as appropriate. Transfer the colored batter to the cake tins and gently spread out with a spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out cleanly. Remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and peel off the paper. When cooled completely, carefully wrap the colored sponge disk in grease proof paper and freeze until ready to decorate. Repeat for the other colors.

Frosting

Ingredients

448g cream cheese (Philly is ideal)

115g butter, softened

250g sifted icing sugar

5ml vanilla extract

(keep extra of all these things in case you run out and need to whip up some more - some people frost cakes with a heavier hand than others)

Directions

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. 

With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a bit at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract

You can pretty much guess the rest. Decorate it the night before you plan to serve it and it will be defrosted by the morning. Cut into it, reveal the surprise. Say 'Oh it was nothing' as your friends and family gasp. But on the inside be as smug as a smug thing.