Rainbow Cake.. my way!

I saw this cake on the internet and knew I wanted to attempt it for my best friend, who luckily has a rather large family! I love how people think its just a lovely looking white cake, then they slice into it and their faces light up!
However, the blog I found it didn't have a recipe, just the instructions to use 'White cake mix' and 'grape soda'. So I decided to use a plain and simple victoria sponge mix, and treble it...
My thinking was; one lot of the recipe makes two sponges, so i need three lots to get six sponges- no thought was there for A) the height of the cake and B) how was it not going to slide!
If you are making this cake , following my recipe, it will hopefully turn out smaller than mine and look a little more professional.. that said, my cake was huge and got mistaken for a wedding cake!


Utensil-wise, obviously a 6 layer cake seems daunting! I went out and brought 3 sets of Sainsburys Basics Cake Tins (cost around £2.50 for 2). They are slightly smaller than the average cake tin, which is a good thing for this cake! And ensured that they are all the same size. I also brought a set of 6 pint glasses (also very cheap) to ensure the cakes are the same size and to save on washing up!


Cake Ingredients (x3 for rainbow cake)
225g caster sugar
225g softened butter
4 eggs
225g self-raising flour
1-2 tbs milk
Your 6 gel food colourings (I couldn't find purple or orange, so mixed the other colours)


Method
(preheat the oven to 190 degree's Celsius, grease your 6 tins)

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth
2. Beat in the eggs
3. Sift the flour in whilst mixing
4. Add the milk as needed to make a good consistency
5. Divide the mixture into the 6 pint glasses, add the colours 1tsp at a time to achieve a nice bright colour
6. Put in the oven to bake for 18-20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. If, like me, you have a smallish oven, you may only be able to fit 2 or 4 cakes in at a time. If this is the case, put the bottom colours of the cake in first, so that they can begin to cool as the others cook!
7. The cakes may well be slightly brown on the top and sides but when the cake is iced, you will only see the colours in the middle, anyway!
8. When the cakes are cooled, brush off the crumbs, trim the edges with scissors and begin to ice! I found it easiest to hold the sponge underneath with one hand, whilst icing the sides with the other hand, then placing it down and doing the top (repeat!)
9. Try and give a thick layer of buttercream, but both the buttercream and cakes need to be completely cooled, or else they will melt and slide (speaking from experience!)

tip: put a blob of buttercream on your cake board so the first layer sticks

Enjoy! x

White Chocolate Pannacotta with Raspberry Coulis

This is one of my favourite ever desserts. It sounds and looks way more complicated than it actually is and I was put off making it for ages because of the gelatine in it, but if you can overcome that- make these!

Ingredients
For the Pannacotta
500ml double cream
150ml milk
100g white chocolate
4 sheets gelatine
25g sugar


For the coulis and decoration
1 packet of raspberries
sugar
+ extra raspberries for decoration


Method

1. Heat cream and milk until it is almost simmering then turn the heat down low and add the sugar and chocolate, stirring (you can add vanilla here if you like, too)
2. Soak the gelatine in a bowl of warm water till it is soft (it almost looks like it has disappeared- but it hasn't!) then, by hand, take each sheet out of the water, squeezing out excess water and stir them into the mixture
3. Take off the heat and stir until completely smooth
4. Leave for a few minutes to cool then pour into ramekins and put into the fridge for a minimum of 5 hours
5. The coulis is really easy to make; either blend or break up the raspberries with a fork and add just enough sugar to take away the tartness of the raspberries

When the coulis are set and you are ready to serve, place the ramekins in warm water and loosen with a knife if needed. I think they look best with coulis served round the bottom and a few whole raspberries and a mint leaf on top.

Enjoy! x

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

The Hummingbird Bakery is my sisters ultimate favourite bakery. She has the cookbooks and made these amazing brownies once before and loved them so I decided to make a 21 out of them for her 21st birthday! They turned out really well, I made about 3 batches, using loaf tins to get smaller, longer brownies rather than the big trays most people would make!
The recipe I have included is for one batch, as it makes more than enough for an average batch!

Brownie ingredients:

200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

200g unsalted butter

250g icing sugar

3 eggs

110g plain flour

Cheesecake ingredients:

400g cream cheese
150g icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Cream topping

300 ml whipping cream
100g icing sugar

150g raspberries, plus extra to decorate

33 x 23 x 5-cm baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper

• Method

For the brownie: 

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3.
2. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water). Leave until melted and smooth. 
3. Put the butter and sugar in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat until all the ingredients are well incorporated. 
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. 
5. Gradually beat in the flour, mixing well after each addition, then turn the mixer up to high speed and beat for a little longer until you get a smooth mixture. 
6. Slowly pour in the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly. Pour into the prepared baking tray and smooth over with a palette knife.

For the cheesecake: 

1. Put the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat on slow speed until smooth and thick. Add one egg at a time, while still mixing. Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. The mixture should be very smooth and creamy.
2. The mixer can be turned up to a higher speed at the end to make the mix a little lighter and fluffier, but be careful not to overmix, otherwise the cheese will split. Spoon on top of the brownie and smooth over with a palette knife. 
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30–40 minutes, or until the cheesecake is firm to the touch and light golden around the edges. The centre should still be pale. Leave to cool completely, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight if possible.

For the cream topping:

1. Put the cream, sugar and raspberries in a freestanding electric mixer with a whisk attachment and beat until firm but not stiff.
2. Turn the brownie out onto a board and turn the right way up.
3. Spread the topping evenly over the brownie and decorate with more raspberries.

Enjoy! x

This recipe is taken from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf and The Hummingbird Bakers

Mario Galaxy Luigi Birthday Cake

This cake I made as a 4th birthday present to my best friends nephew. I wont post the recipe, as it really was just a double layer chocolate cake which I found in a recipe book at home. The icing took me a long time but I did it over a few days; sitting with a laptop for the pictures of mario galaxy and all my icing colours! I was so pleased with it for my first 'professional' looking cake, and he loved it!

Round the outside and lots of goomba's coins, rockets etc etc and the stars are held up by wire from an art shop!

I get all of my baking supplies from Cake Craft World- its pretty good :)