{Recipe} ~ Rainbow Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

Note: the below ingredients make 2 layers of sponge, multiply accordingly as per the amount of layers you want, for example if you want a six layer cake, make this mix 3 times.

For the sponge mix:

225g plain flour

125g butter, (soft - allow to come to room temperature)

3 medium eggs

150g golden caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

edible food coloring - red, orange, yellow, green, blue & purple

( I use Wilton gel food coloring, can be purchased online, any good baking shop or in Homestore and more! The gel colors are best as they have a more intense color and doesn't water down the mix! It's best to buy the multipack as you will have a better selection of colors and although the pots are small a little goes a long way!!)

For the cream cheese icing:

1tsp vanilla extract

750g (3 x 250g tubs) cream cheese (full fat works best!)

350g icing sugar

You will need:

2x 12" baking tins( If you have a different size tin, slightly smaller or bigger that's ok your layers will just be thicker or thinner, the secret is to measure out each batch exactly so that theres the same amount of cake mix in each layer to create even layers!!)

1x large bowl

Handheld or stand mixer

Grease proof paper

Butter for greasing tins

Spatula

Sieve

Weighting scales (I prefer digital for precision)

6x smaller same size bowls

Cocktail sticks

Method:

1.                Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease 2 baking tins and line the bases with grease proof paper/baking parchment. Put all the sponge ingredients into the large bowl, apart from the food coloring, sieve the flour and baking powder so there's no lumps, then beat with an electric whisk until smooth.

2.                When all the ingredients have been combined, divide the mixture into 6 bowls and measure so that they all weigh the same, use all the mix scraping down the bowl with the rubber spatula (I find using the same style and size of bowl best as the bowls will all weigh the same initially so when the mixture is added it's more accurate) Once you have the mixtures weighed, now comes the fun part, adding the colors! Use a cocktail stick to put some of the gel in each bowl, use a different stick for each color so as not to mix colors. Mix the colors in well in each bowl with a spoon add more color with the stick if you need to, the color of the mix now will be pretty close to the baked cake color!  Scrape the different batters into the tins, trying to spread and smooth as much as possible but try not to waste a drop of the batter a rubber spatula will help you. Bake in oven for 12 mins until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean.

3.                Gently turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool. Wash the tins and add the next 2 colors and bake again, repeat this process until all 6 layers are baked. Leave them all to cool.

4.                To make the icing, this can be done while waiting on the cakes to bake in the oven. Beat the vanilla and cream cheese with an electric whisk until smooth. Sift in the icing sugar and gently fold in with a spatula. Be careful – the more you work it, the runnier it will get, increasing the chance of splitting. I find it works best if you put the prepared icing in the fridge for a half hour to let the mixture firm up slightly, which makes it easier to spread onto the cakes. This will also allow all your sponges cool before you start assembling the cake.

5.                Remove the icing from the fridge and put a dollop on your cake stand or plate, This will help the cake stay in place on the plate. Place first layer of sponge on top, next spread some icing on top of this layer of sponge and evenly spread to the edges, place next layer on top and repeat until all layers are complete. Next cover the complete cake in a thin layer of icing (crumb coat) and place in the fridge for half an hour. Remove from the fridge and use remaining icing to cover and decorate cake, this should give you a clean finish with no crumbs coming through! Leave as it with just icing or finish with sprinkles or other decoration. Keep in a cool area or in the fridge until needed as the cream cheese icing will soften quickly.

Note: I made 5 layers with this cake as I used the 6th bowl to make mini cupcakes, but you could use it as the orange layer in the cake!

Also I've multiplied the ingredients by 3 initially so I had quite a large mix to deal with but if you prefer to make in individual batches as per ingredients that will give you 2 layers and just repeat the whole process 3 times, whichever works best for you!