clingfilm and leave in a cool, dry place
overnight. I find it best to give it time to firm
up so it doesn’t break apart when we want
to cut, trim and layer it. You can, of course,
go straight into the decorating part once the
cake layers are completely cool, but if you’ve
got time to leave it overnight I highly
recommend it.
7 W hen you’re ready, it’s time to make the
buttercream. For this I’m going to start by
making white buttercream – this will make a
lovely contrast to the colourful cake layers
and the colourful buttercream we will
decorate it with later. Also by star ting with
white but tercream, it’s easier to then turn it
into another colour.WHITE BUTTERCREAM
- 500g (1lb 1oz) unsalted butter
- 1kg (2lb 2oz) icing sugar
- 1½ tsp vanilla
- purple gel colouring
1 Start by creaming the butter on a highCAKE DEC SCHOOLa cake mix is left out the less it can rise in the
oven. Try to have everything out and ready to
use so you’re not rifling through the
cupboards when you should be mixing.
I had the four lined tins, the four bowls, four
spoons, colouring and palette knife all to
hand to make this bit as swif t as possible.
5 Once you have mixed your colours,
pour into the four lined tins and bake for
40-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out
clean. I like to bake ‘low and slow’ as I find this
makes for a more even bake and nice flat tops.
Having a flatter top cake is great for decorating,
but I find it even more important with single
shallow cake layers like these as there will be
a bare minimum to cut off (if that), so we don’t
lose any more height than we need to.
6 Once baked, I turn out the cakes, after a
few minutes out of the oven, onto a sheet of
greaseproof paper. I do this instead of a wire
rack so as not to make any indents on the
sides of the cake. By leaving to cool on a flat
surface, it levels them nicely. When they are
completely cool, wrap each layer well in
speed for about 5 minutes. This will aerate it
and make it lovely and pale in colour. Once
this is done, mix in the icing sugar slowly.
Don’t be tempted to add any liquid at this
stage. It will look quite firm and lumpy but
stay strong, keep mixing and be patient.
2 Once fully incorporated, add the vanilla and
mix on a high speed until a nice creamy
consistency has formed.
3 To turn it white, we’re going to use purple.
Sounds weird but I promise you it works.
Take a TIN Y amount of purple gel colouring
on the end of a cocktail stick and add it into
the buttercream and mix well. The purple
will neutralise the yellow and you’ll be lef t
with a lovely white buttercream. Too little and
it’ll go a light yellow, too much and it will go
grey – WAY too much and it will go purple. You
only need the smallest amount. If in doubt,
start tiny and work your way up.TO STACK AND DECORATE
1 Once your cake layers are firm and your
buttercream is made, it’s time to put it together.
Unwrap your cake layers and level them
using a cake leveller or sharp serrated knife.
Then trim the edges off. I don’t tend to do
this for normal cakes but I will with colourful
cakes as the outside, top and bottom tend to
go a slightly different colour to the actual
sponge when it’s being baked. W hen we
cut into the cake we want to see the lovely
bright surprise!
2 Start with the darkest cake layer and place
this onto a thin cake card the same size as the
cake on a ‘working board’, securing with a littleStacking
AEBFCGDHIJWWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM JUNE baking heaven 91