6 Layer Rainbow Cake

RUBY’S 6 LAYER RAINBOW CAKE

WITH STRAWBERRY GANACHE 

Well here is the post for that cake 😉 To be honest it was one of the easiest cakes I have made. Probably took just as long to make as the usual requests but just as easy. Don’t be put off by the size of it! YOU CAN DO IT! And I’ll tell you how step by step!

Ruby’s 4th Birthday party request was rainbow cake. And then she later added in the princess theme… I had already planned the cake so hence the princess dolls on top. These I found in Target think for the set of 4 with all the clothes is about $30. I made it part of the present and told her she could have them after the cake 😉

So firstly you need the cakes – this is a recipe that I have changed a little, adapted to my needs and then converted from a Maggie Beer recipe that I found in a magazine. It was really easy to colour and work with and was the perfect amount to get two colour cakes from each batter. Here is the recipe for one batch, I will put the full shopping list for the three cakes, ganache and butter cream at the bottom of the post.

CAKE: 

INGREDIENTS:

130G Butter (Room temp)

80g Extra Virgin Olive Oil

250g Caster Sugar (You can use raw sugar and break it down to caster sugar as step 1.)

1tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

2 Whole Eggs

3 Egg Yolks

250g Self Raising Flour

130g Butter Milk

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

METHOD: 

1. Add the Butterfly to the TM bowl. Add butter, sugar, olive oil and vanilla paste to the bowl. Begin mixing on speed 4 until the mixture becomes a light fluffy consistency.
2. When you are happy with the look of the batter (usually between 1 minute and 1 and a half minutes) reduce speed to speed 3. Whilst still mixing add the eggs through the hole. Add each egg separately give it about 15 seconds each time to thoroughly mix. Add each of the Yolks the same way. This should take about 3 minutes for the whole process. (step 1 and 2)
3. Stop the mix and scrape edges. If you are happy that it is all combined add HALF of the flour, baking powder and butter milk to the bowl. Mix on speed 3 for 30 Seconds.
4. Again scrape the edges of the bowl and add the remaining flour, baking powder and butter milk. Mix on speed 3 for 30 seconds. You can give it a further 10 seconds on speed 4 to ensure it is all mixed through thoroughly.
5. Once you are happy with the mix split the mix in two. I used two baking tins (Roughly 22cm). I left half the mix in the thermy to mix through the colour and I mixed the other half by hand. Found this was the easiest way.
6. For the most vibrant colour use the Gel colourings. I used the wilton brand and added a few drops and then mixed it through before adding more until you reach the desired colours. I used Wilton colours I got mine from Kitchen Warehouse but found them cheap on this website – Baking Pleasures
7. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes at 180 degrees. You will need to test the cake and make sure that the skewer comes out clean. It should move away from the edges slightly.

STRAWBERRY GANACHE

INGREDIENTS:

300G Strawberries (Hulled and cut in half)

20G Caster Sugar

200G White Chocolate (Chopped into small bits if not buttons)

100G Milk Chocolate (Chopped into small bits if not buttons)

METHOD:

1. Place Strawberries and sugar into the TM bowl and cook for 5 minutes 100 degrees on speed 3.
2. Place chocolate in a mixing bowl. Once cooked run the strawberry mix through a fine sieve and into the chocolate mix. (See pic below) Discard the strawberry pulp.
3. Clean and dry the TM bowl and add the strawberry and chocolate mix back to the TM bowl. Mix for 4 minutes on speed 3 at 70 degrees.
4. Ensure that the chocolate is fully melted. Once it is completely melted it is ready to use. It should have a smooth syrup texture.

Chocolate Buttons all ready for the strawberry syrup!

Strawberry Syrup going through the sieve.

BUTTER CREAM ICING –

150g Butter (Room Temp)

300g Raw Sugar (Ground to icing sugar If leaving the icing white use the pre-ground white icing sugar. )

1tablespoon of Milk

Add all ingredients and mix for 20 seconds speed 8.

There is a bit of a art to butter cream if you ask me 🙂 It’s very much a feel and see. If you think it needs a touch more milk or icing sugar to adjust the texture. You will need two batches to completely cover the cake. You can colour the icing in the tm bowl or do it by hand to adjust the colour till it’s perfect. This cake looks really classy left white… In this house it is pink, pink, pink!

CAKE ASSEMBLY – 

• Remove Cakes from freezer (if you are freezing them prior) right before you plan to work with them.
• Decide the order of assembly for the colours.
• Place the first cake on the serving plate. This is important the cake is VERY heavy once you are finished.
• Spread a thin layer of ganache over the cake.
• Use some of the butter cream around the edges to help the cakes stick together.
• Add the next layer, and repeat adding the butter cream for the edges and a layer of ganache.

First Layer.

Building the Tower!

The Cake tower. You can see by this pic that the cake is really forgiving, some are bigger then others / some a little wonky – you really won’t notice once you have finished the cake. Also at this stage it looks a little ugly… think of it as the ugly duckling!!

• Once you have finished the stack use a serrated knife to trim the edges of the cake and make them all even. Again you can be as careful as you can to keep the shape but a few odds really won’t be noticeable!

• Once you have trimmed the cake down you will need to get rid of the crumbs from the base. The tip here is to use a damp paper towel.
• Give the whole outside and top a thin layer of ganache. Start with the sides in case you run short. The top can survive without a layer but it will help you to put the butter cream on the outer.
• Once you have a coated the cake with the remaining ganache, add the butter cream. Start at the top and work your way around.
• To be honest. I ended up popping on a pair of gloves and putting the butter cream on by hand. I found when I was using the spreader it would crumb the cake slightly. It was so much easier using my hands. I then used the cake spreader to run over it once it was covered to give it a nice texture and finish.
• Once it was completely iced I put it in the fridge to set. I left it in there over night.

DECORATIONS – 

• I found some rainbow wool from Spotlight for a couple of dollars. I wrapped some of the wool around it.
• We also had to have some princess dolls sitting proudly a top! These have now been re-homed with the other 45 dolls that belong to Miss Ruby!
• I used a fondant to roll out and cut out the word RUBY. I cut them out of a pre-made and coloured fondant. It was just too easy to cheat this time 🙂 Here is the brand I used – Baking Pleasures I found them at Kitchen Warehouse. They were $14.95 a roll and the shelf life on them is huge! The word is put onto the cake using 22 gauge cake wire.
• You will need time for the fondant to dry out and be able to stand.

And hopefully you enjoy your rainbow cake!!!!