We’re all a little guilty of taking our mothers for granted, but this holiday we can make a conscious effort to show how much we care about them—after all, they were the ones who quite literally got you here, reading this, in the first place. Mums are special, each of them unique, so it would make sense to make them something equally as special, and for that we have instructed the help of our star baker Heather Brown to show us how to make the perfect Layered Rainbow Cake. Sugary sweet, and a real show stopper for Mothers Day dessert. Whether you’ll be making it as a family, or as a surprise for mum this recipe will help you it look and taste amazing.
Rainbow Cake (Serves 15+)
Ingredients
12oz butter
12oz caster sugar
6 eggs
12oz self raising flour
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Food colouring (I use the paste, over the liquid or gel, as it is easier to get a strong colour in the sponges)
Method
Pre-heat the oven to gas 6/200 degrees/180 fan. Grease and line 2 8-inch round tins.
Measure out 4oz of butter and 4oz of sugar and beat together until the mixture is light and fluffy (this takes about 3-4 minutes with a wooden spoon and about 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer). Measure out 4oz flour and set aside. Beat in 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla well. If the mixture appears curdled at this stage, add in a tablespoon of the flour. Once all combined, stir in the flour (careful not to beat at this stage otherwise you can knock out the air and the cakes may not rise properly).
Split the mixture into 2 bowls and add a different colouring to each bowl and mix through. You want to make sure the colour is bold as it can get lighter as it bakes.
Bake in the oven for 10- 15 minutes, until the top is springy and the cake starts to come away from the sides of the pan. Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Repeat the above process twice more until you have 6 layers, all in different colours. If you happen to have more than 2 tins and your oven is large enough to fit them in all at once, then you can of course bake more layers at the
same time.
Tip: This recipe means that the layers are thinner than a usual Victoria Sandwich cake, but this allows for 6 layers rather than 2! It will still be taller than a usual sandwich cake.
Once all the layers have been baked and cooled, mix up some buttercream icing using 8oz icing sugar, 4 oz softened butter and a little milk. Combine the butter and sugar until you have a stiff mixture. You may need to add more icing sugar if too wet or milk if too stiff but you are looking for icing which holds its shape and doesn’t run off a spoon. You can also flavour with a little vanilla extract if you wish.
Wipe a small amount on the serving plate to ‘stick’ the cake to it and stopping it from sliding about. Layer up the cakes using the icing as a ‘glue’ between each layer. To avoid it being too sweet, I keep the icing to a minimum between each layer. Once all the cakes have been stacked, I prefer to ice the whole of the outside so that the inside is kept a surprise until the first slice. You can do this using either the buttercream or fondant icing (coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream first to give the fondant something to stick to). You can also cover the buttercream covered cake in sprinkles for a little extra fun.
Meet Heather Brown
With 20 years of baking experience, Heather Brown takes great pride in running her own business delivering high quality, bespoke bakes for any occasion or event. Heather is always tinkering in the kitchen to rustle up something new and she started her business in the belief that bespoke baking and catering can be so much more exciting that the often bland, beige buffets presented at events. In that vain, every order that Heather takes is specifically tailored to her client’s needs and every menu is designed to make sure that the food is delicious, and the perfect compliment to any event. Heather also has experience with and is available to work collaboratively with brands to help with blog or advertising content and can come up with bespoke recipes to fit with brand imaging and lifestyle shoots.
For more information about Heather Brown visit: www.heather-brown.com
Follow Heather on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook: @heatherbrownuk
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