The Ultimate Rainbow Cake

The Ultimate Rainbow Cake. One that would wow the socks off people you gift it to. I've done a couple of Rainbow cakes but this is just about one of my very favourite. I challenged myself to match the layers with the Rainbow Petals on the outside. Well, I guess teaching has taught me one thing: PATIENCE. 

It was also a good time for me to take time off all the marking and lesson preparation to do what I like best: baking. It's already my 7th week into teaching and I am pretty much enjoying myself. It's not just delivering syllabus.. but helping kids. I become like a mother to some of my kids cos' they don't get the right support at home. It opens my eyes to the many sufferings of the world too, and in turn, be more thankful for the many good things I'm blessed with. 

Oh yes, speaking of blessings.. I've FINALLY GRADUATED! 

It's been a long long journey. But I've made it! When people tell you that you'll get no where with a low PSLE score, don't take them for real. 

I completed PSLE with 186. I was a "goner" in many people's eyes. Headed to Normal Academic in Xinmin. "Wasted" a year more than my peers. Thankfully, I did fairly well during my N and O levels to do my Diploma in Early Childhood Education. Then I "wasted" more time to do my second Diploma in Education with NIE. By God's grace, I crossover and did my degree with two years of no pay leave. After going one big round, I graduate today. 

So not doing well for PSLE is not the end. You just need that "waking moment". 

That aside,without my family, friends and the fav boy, I would never have gotten this far. It hasn't been easy by truly, with God's grace, I've made it! Praise The Lord!

Okay, merry stuff aside, I really like The Ultimate Rainbow Cake! (:

I'd rate this a difficulty level 5 out of 5 and it takes about 4 hours in all to complete.

Click on for the recipe..

The Ultimate Rainbow Cake

This recipe yields a 7 layer 8" round cake

The recipe is split into 3 batches to prepare and bake

BATCH 1 (Yields 2 layers)

160g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt

110g unsalted butter

150g castor sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs (55 - 60g)

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

BATCH 2 (Yields 2 layers)

160g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt

110g unsalted butter

150g castor sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs (55 - 60g)

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

BATCH 3 (Yields 3 layers)

240g plain flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt

165g unsalted butter

225g castor sugar

3/4 cup milk

3 eggs (55 - 60g)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

*NOTE: What I did was to whip up one batch at once and bake one layer before the other. If your oven allows for even baking of 2 layers, by all means go ahead and bake them together (: 

Wilton Gel food colouring, I used 7 colours for 7 layers

Filling

625g cream cheese, thawed

275g unsalted butter, room temperature

412g icing sugar OR 300g icing sugar and 112g snow powder (for a less sweet version)

3 tbsp vanilla bean paste

Rainbow Petals

375g cream cheese

165g unsalted butter

247g icing sugar OR 180g icing sugar and 67g snow powder (for a less sweet version)

1 1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste

Wilton Gel food colouring, I used 7 colours for 7 layers

Steps

Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt.

Allow butter to 'warm' up to almost room temperature (I usually cube my chilled butter and let it thaw for 10 minutes in room temperature) and add the castor sugar. Whisk together till creamy. This can be done using a machine whisk or even a hand whisk (with some determination of course).

You should get something like this.

Add an egg. Mix well.

Add the other egg and mix well.

Add in the vanilla bean paste. Try using vanilla bean paste rather than vanilla essence/extract as it tastes so much better. The other two are just so artificial. 

Add the milk and flour mixture alternately, 1/3 portion at a time, ensuring that each layer is well mixed before adding another.

Remember to mix it well! Weigh the batter ALONE. Split batter into 2 equal portions. I had each portion at 310g - 320g. 

Colour each portion accordingly with a small portion of food colouring. Pour one portion of batter into a 8" round baking tin lined with baking paper and spread it as evenly as you can with a spatula. It will be good to have 2 baking tins so that you can rotate them. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or till' cooked. 

Remove cake from baking tin and allow cake to cool in a cake caddy/air tight container. 

Bake remaining 6 layers and allow to cool completely. 

Prepare a sugar solution of 1 part hot/boiling water to 1 part castor/fine sugar and mix well to allow sugar to dissolve. Have the sugar solution in a spray mist bottle.

CREAM CHEESE FILLING

Have the cream cheese come close to room temperature in a mixing bowl for about 10 minutes. You may cube it to allow it to 'thaw' faster. Using a spatula/hand whisk (I prefer a spatula), whisk it vigorously by hand to cream it. Alternatively, use a machine whisk. 

Add cubed butter of room temperature (cube and thaw in room temperature for 10 mins) into cream cheese and whisk vigorously. Or if you're lazy, use a mixer!

Add in icing sugar and vanilla bean paste. The specks you see in the cream cheese frosting is the vanilla bean paste. It may look 'unclean' but it sure will taste better! Mix well!

You'll get a mixture like this. 

Have one layer in the middle of the cake board (I used a 13" cake board). Spray with a small amount of sugar solution to keep the cake moist. Apply a layer of cream cheese filling (about 1/8 of the cream cheese). 

Beautifully layered! (:

Add second layer. Do handled with care.  Repeat steps for remaining layers. Use the remaining 2/8 or the cream cheese to coat the entire cake. 

Love the amazing colours!

Prepare rainbow petals cream cheese frosting with the same steps used for the filling. Divide into 8 portions and colour accordingly. Here's a video tutorial for the piping of the petals. For this particular cake, I was mindful of the size of my petals as I wanted them to match each and every layer as precisely as possible. I also made them smaller and more dainty using an angled spatula instead of a teaspoon. 

The petals bit needs patience but the results are well worth the effort. 

Enjoy your cake! 

I'd love to see the bakes or stuff you've cooked using the blog's recipe! Do share photos of stuff you've baked or cooked using the blog's recipe with me either via FB message to http://facebook.com/limcynthia OR http://facebook.com/thebakingbiatch OR via email at cynthia.lim.hl@gmail.com! I look forward to hearing from you! (: