Rainbow Layer Cake With Buttercream Frosting Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F Spray 3 (8-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray.
• In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide batter evenly among 6 small bowls, about 1 1/3 cups each.
• Using food colors, tint batter in 1 bowl blue, 1 bowl red, 1 bowl green, 1 bowl yellow, 1 bowl orange (using red and yellow) and 1 bowl purple (using blue and red).
• Refrigerate 3 colors of batter until ready to bake. Pour remaining 3 colors of batter into cake pans.
• Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center and begins to pull away from side of pan. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooling racks; cool completely.
• Wash cake pans. Bake and cool remaining 3 cake layers as directed.
• In large bowl, beat shortening and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until light yellow. On low speed, gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until frosting is smooth. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy.
• Trim rounded tops off cakes to level, if needed. On serving plate, place purple cake layer. Spread with frosting to within 1/4 inch of edge. Repeat with blue, green, yellow, orange and red cake layers. Spread light coat of frosting on top and side of cake to seal in crumbs, then frost with remaining frosting.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease six 9-inch round cake pans and dust with flour.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
• Beat 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, milk, sugar, egg whites, and vanilla extract in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in flour mixture and mix until just combined.
• Divide cake batter evenly between 6 bowls. Mix in different food coloring to each bowl, creating 6 different colored batters. Start with just 1 to 2 drops of food coloring in each bowl, then mix; you can always add more.
• Bake each cake in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Beat cream in a chilled glass or metal bowl with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Stir together confectioners' sugar and mascarpone cheese in a separate bowl, then fold gently into the whipped cream until smooth.
• Spread frosting on each layer of cooled cake, placing one on top of the other. Cover the top and sides with the remaining frosting. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Steps:

• Butter three 20cm round cake tins and line their bases with baking parchment. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and smooth. Gradually beat in the eggs until combined, then mix in the vanilla. Fold in the flour and baking powder to fully combine. Stir in the milk to loosen.
• Divide the mixture between the three tins, and bake the sponges for 20 mins until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the Swiss meringue buttercream. Put the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a small pan of gently simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn't touch the water. Whisk for 3-4 mins until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and tip the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer, or use an electric whisk, and whisk for 10 mins on a medium-high speed until you have a thick meringue. Gradually whisk in the softened butter 1 tbsp at a time until fully incorporated and the buttercream is fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract.
• Put one of the sponges on a plate or cake stand, top it with 3-4 tbsp of the buttercream and spread out so that it's thicker at the edge. Add half of either the caramel or lemon curd and spread over the icing on the middle part of the cake - don't spread to the edges. Add the next sponge, and repeat. Top with the final sponge. Smooth a thin layer of the buttercream around the cake - this is called a crumb coat. Chill in the fridge for at least 45 mins, then smooth another layer of buttercream around the cake using a palette knife to fully cover the sponge, reserving half for decoration. Put the cake and reserved buttercream back in the fridge for another 45 mins-1 hr.
• Divide the remaining buttercream between 11 small bowls and mix in a different gel colouring to 10 of them, leaving the last bowl white. Use a different piping bag for each colour, either cutting a 1cm hole in the end or applying a round nozzle.
• Pipe one row of buttercream blobs in alternating colours from the top to the bottom of the cake, then use a teaspoon or small palette knife to very lightly smear each blob of frosting away from you. For the second row, choose the colour that is next in sequence to the colour alongside it, piping over the thinnest part of that smeared blob. As you continue to pipe around the cake following this pattern, you will create a swirl effect of colours.
• Continue the previous piping method in a circle on top of the cake, but this time smearing the icing in towards the middle of the cake until the cake is covered, then it's ready to slice and serve. The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to three days.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 3 (8-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray.
• In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide batter evenly among 6 small bowls, about 1 1/3 cups each.
• Using food colors, tint batter in 1 bowl blue, 1 bowl red, 1 bowl green, 1 bowl yellow, 1 bowl orange (using red and yellow) and 1 bowl purple (using blue and red).
• Refrigerate 3 colors of batter until ready to bake. Pour remaining 3 colors of batter into cake pans.
• Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center and begins to pull away from side of pan. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooling racks; cool completely.
• Wash cake pans. Bake and cool remaining 3 cake layers as directed.
• In large bowl, beat shortening and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until light yellow. On low speed, gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until frosting is smooth. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy.
• Trim rounded tops off cakes to level, if needed. On serving plate, place purple cake layer. Spread with frosting to within 1/4 inch of edge. Repeat with blue, green, yellow, orange and red cake layers. Spread light coat of frosting on top and side of cake to seal in crumbs, then frost with remaining frosting.