Recipe: Surprise rainbow cake

How to make a vanilla & lemon rainbow cake filled and decorated with chocolate

(not particularly healthy but looks impressive and is not too difficult to make.)

Ingredients: (serves 10-12)

For the cake:

- 225g unsalted butter, softened

- 400g caster sugar

- 500g plain flour

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1 and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

- 1 tsp salt

- 3 tsp vanilla extract (I also add some vanilla bean paste for extra flavour)

- 4 large eggs

- 500ml buttermilk

- Juice of 2 lemons

- Smarties (or skittles or whichever sweets/ chocolate you want inside the cake)

- Food colouring (you need 6 colours. I got red, blue, yellow and green food gel then used the colours red, blue, yellow, green, purple (red and blue mixed) and dark red (red and yellow mixed). 

For the icing:

- 250g icing sugar

- 80g butter

- 3 tsp vanilla extract (I also use some vanilla bean paste too)

- 25ml of milk

- Juice of half a lemon

For the decoration:

- White and milk chocolate fingers for the sides ( I have also used kit kats in the past, alternating milk chocolate and cookies & cream kit kats)
- M&Ms for the top of the cake
- About half a jar of lemon curd
- White chocolate buttons for the sides of the cake (optional)
- Reese's peanut butter cup chocolates and love hearts just to serve the cake with/ any chocolate or sweets you want (optional)
- Edible glitter (optional)

1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease with butter and put baking paper on the bases of 6 cake tins. I used 18.5cm (in diameter) tins. I only had 2 tins so just kept washing, re-lining and using them again.

2) Mix the butter and sugar together using an electric whisk for about 7 minutes until fluffy.

3) Meanwhile, in another bowl mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. (I never sift the flour, just mix the ingredients above together with a spoon).

4) To the butter and sugar mixture, add the vanilla extract (and paste), then the eggs one at a time. Mix together.

5) Put your mixer on a low speed and slowly pour in the buttermilk.

6) Then add the flour mixture to the cake batter, in about 3 batches, and combine.

7) Then divide the batter into 6 bowls. I put about 300g of batter in each bowl.

8) Put the food colouring into each bowl, only a few drops should be necessary.

9) Put the coloured cake batter into the lined tin, making sure evenly spread. If you only have 2 tins then just put 2 colours into 2 tins, bake and repeat the process.

10) Bake in the oven, on the center shelf for 17 minutes. 

11) Whilst still hot, prick the cakes with a skewer and pour lemon juice over the cake.

12) Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the icing. Simply whisk together, using an electric whisk, the butter and icing sugar for 10 minutes. Then add the milk and vanilla and mix for a few more minutes. Then combine with the lemon juice.

13) When cool, start to ensemble the cake. Cut a hole, using a cutter, in the middle 4 layers of the cake (NOT the bottom or top layer).

Use the first hole as a stencil so that all the holes in the cake are aligned. Discard /eat the middle circles of cake.

14) First spread the lemon curd, then icing on the bottom layer (without a hole). Then repeat, stacking up the cake, until all the layers are stuck together (EXCEPT the top).

15) Now add the smarties to the hole.

16) Close the hole with the top layer. Spread more icing on top of the cake and add the M&Ms.

17) Add icing to the sides of the cake and stick chocolate fingers (alternating in white and milk). If the cake height is taller than the chocolate fingers then fill the gaps with white chocolate buttons, if you want.

18) Put the cake onto a large wooden chopping board/ a plate and decorate with the Reece's and love hearts. Sprinkle edible glitter over the cake. 

Enjoy x