There are some occasions in life when only cake will do. This weekend was no exception, Big Man´s Granddaughter was celebrating her 7th Birthday, so cake was most definitely needed. No comments please about me being a Step Granny…!
I have seen various versions of rainbow coloured cakes around for a while, from mini cupcakes, to regular sized ones with splodges of different colours, to multi tiered cakes. For a beautifully elegant grown up cake, do pop over to see what Smidge did for her birthday.
Obviously, when you´re 7 years old, you´re not looking for elegance or sophistication (phew!), so I thought that the 7 colours of the rainbow and the 7 tiers of the cake would tie in perfectly.
The cake mix I used is very simple and is not a whipped, butter version. The benefit of this is that as I only have two Victoria sandwich tins (which are 7” or 18cm in diameter and 1” or 2.5cm high), and the mixture makes enough for 3 cakes, it can stand around quite happily while waiting for the first cakes to cook. I had initially only planned on making 6 colours, but I forgot to line the bases of the tins for the first two, and they wouldn´t come out without crumbling into a thousand pieces. Eventually I made a third batch of mixture and ended up with 7 colours.
I have to warn you that there is a little “waste” as I needed to cut the tops off the cakes where they rose and were browned (you don´t need to worry about cutting the sides off) but these crumbs could be used to make cake pops, or just eaten as is….I mean, who throws cake away?!
Apologies for the photos, the cake was assembled late at night and the decorating was undertaken by the Birthday Girl, who had great fun, and these final photos were the snaps we took.
For 3 cakes (make two batches of this mixture)
- 2 cups of self raising flour, a pinch of salt and a cup and half of sugar mixed together in one bowl
- 3 large eggs, half a cup of vegetable oil and half a cup of natural yogurt beaten together until well mixed.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well, if the mixture is very stiff, add a tablespoon full of milk.
Divide the mixture into up to 3 bowls and add food colouring to each. You will repeat this with the second batch of mixture.
Pour into your base lined tins and bake at 180º for about 30 minutes or until a skewer poked into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from tins, when cool slice off the raised top with a bread knife. Eat crumbs with a cup of coffee whilst making the other cakes.
For the cake filling (to sandwich between the layers)
- 300g cream cheese mixed with 50g of soft butter and a cup of sieved icing sugar. Tablespoon of milk (optional)
Beat well and add a little milk if the mxture is too stiff to spread easily. Put a small dot of the mixture on your serving plate and place the first player of cake on top. Spread the mixture thinly over the top of the cake and continue to repeat with all your layers, but don´t ice the top of the final layer.
For the icing (makes enough to cover a 7 layer cake).
- In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water put 2 egg whites, 350g (12oz) of white sugar, 3 tablespoons of hot water and half a teaspoon of cream of tartar (optional, but it does help to maintain the firmness of the meringue if you make it ahead). Add a few drops of food colouring if required.
Now, with your electric beater (or by hand if you are feeling super energetic), mix for about 5-7 minutes until thick and fairly stiff.
Apply immediately and find a small child to help you with decorations.
PS. I don´t advocate feeding children enormous amounts of food colouring every day, but once a year should be fine. Work off excess energy chasing small dogs round the garden until it is time to go home.
Chica Andaluza 
Ow wow I want to be 7 again!! It looks like so much fun – to make and eat 🙂
It was a great opportunity for fun and silliness!
that cake just makes me *SMILE*!
It had that effect on me!
Beautifully done by you and the birthday girl Tanya. Happy 7th Birthday to Big Man’s granddaughter!
🙂 Mandy
It was fun to do something different like this for a change 🙂 And thank you for the good wishes!
It looks so pretty – she must have been thrilled! Happy birthday to her!
I think she was quite amazed, she´d never seen anything like it!
Lovely cake for a lovely girl!
And, such an easy cake recipe!
Thank you!
Just look at all those layers and such beautiful colors, what a pretty cake for a little girl. I’m sure she’ll never forget this one. Thank you for the linky love:) xo Smidge
You inspired me…I´ll have to try and do a more elegant one next!
What a stunning cake! So girlie and i promise i will not say anything about you being a Step Granny!! I would NOT go so far as to say that you probably quite a popular Step Gran with cake making skills such as those! lovely.. c
Thanks for not mentioning the Step Granny thing!! I also played Animal Hospital and being The Dog Whisperer, so I really deserved a slice of cake at the end of the afternoon 🙂
How brilliant – you really excelled yourself – I bet she was thrilled!
I think I got a bit carried away with the fun of it all…she did seem to be happy though 😉
She’ll want one in the shape of a giraffe next year 😉
I may be away that day….
Pretty in pink! That is one incredible cake for such a pretty little girl! She must’ve been thrilled. Who would’t be? Well done, Nonna! 🙂
Nonna – oh dear, that sounds sooo old! Luckily I´m just “Tanya” to her!
Gotcha! 🙂
…and how!
That’s one incredible looking cake!
It was certainly different!
Oh, what a darling little gal! And what a beautiful cake. I don’t even pretend to be a cake baker, but this looks so good I just might have to tackle such a project. Beautiful!
I´m not really much of a baker, but it was a very “forgiving” cake 😉
Now THAT’S what I call a Birthday Cake! Amazing. And what a beautiful birthday girl.
Thanks Evie – I´m glad I finally got to make one!
wow..!! I’d feel like a princess receiving a bday cake like that!! You’re one awesome step-granny!! Love the rainbow of colors, well done!!
I remember how I used to feel special when my grandmother made me special cakes – hopefully she felt something of what I used to feel 🙂
That is the best cake ever! I had better hide this post or there will be some groaning about why we never have cakes that look that good! x
Now that you mention it…I´ve had a few requests for the future. Have made a rod for my own back!
It’s always been my goal to be the favorite aunt. And I think you’ve knocked it out of the park for favorite “unmentionable” ;). Beautiful!
Favourite “unmentionable”…love it!
What a spectacular cake! (And what a darling little girl!) I expect unicorns to come riding in at any moment! Seems pure magic to me!
It definitely has a touch of My Little Pony about it!
Yummy! That is a very tall cake!
Very tall…I had my worries about it toppling over but it behaved beautifully!
Holy cow, that’s a big cake. Looks like a great birthday celebration.
It was HUGE…luckily there were plenty of people willing to dig in and leftovers to share out 🙂
Wow, wow, wow…that is an impressive, fun and beautiful cake! I love all the colors and I would have gone mad if someone had made a rainbow cake like that for me when I was 7, or now, for that matter! Great job, Rainbow Angel (not step-granny).
Rainbow Angel….aah, that´s lovely (and much nicer tan Step Granny)!
The song in my mind now… This is the most amazing cake that I have ever seen… fascinated me dear Chica, you did great. Happy Birthday for this lovely little girl…. Thank you, with my love, nia
Thank you so much Nia, and yes, I´ve been humming that tune all day too 🙂
Seriously – will you be my Step Granny? I’d love that birthday cake! xxxx
Cheeky! I´m your best friend – be happy with that and I´ll make you a really tall cake for your next birthday. How many layers will that be?!
I can’t bake to save my life and I’ll have to do something for my son’s second birthday! Suggesions?? :))
How about making one batch of the cake mix and making little coloured cup cakes – perfect for two year old hands to hold and eat. You could make a little pyramind of them with a candle at the top. Think they would only take about 15 minutes to cook if they were that size!
Wow, the birthday girl must have been so proud and happy of her rainbow cake! Excellent job, Tanya!
Thanks so much Malou!
And the fun is in the making, eating is great too of course, but if your granddaughter is anything like my kids then they ended up eating more icing than they stuck decorations too!
I think this is a good idea for next birthday at our house!
There was certainly a lot of sticky icing around the house!
Hola abuelastra 😉
Me ha encantado tu receta e idea para este fantástico dulce de cumpleaños. Es super bonito 🙂
Y las fotos son estupendas.
G
Gracias – pues las fotos no eran las mejores, pero era un día en familia!
If somebody had baked THAT cake for my 7th birthday, they’d have won me forever. Actually, if somebody baked THAT cake for my next birthday, they’d win me forever!
You´ll have to drop lots of heavy hints…I do hope someone DOES bake it for you 😉
All I can say is that is so beautiful!
Thank you Raymund!
wow – you are adventurous! I use non E number food powder for decorating my cakes 🙂
A couple of the colours were natural, but I´m afraid here where I live it´s hard to get hold of them. Will have to stock up on the next UK trip.
Your granddaughter looks like she really enjoyed her cake. I am sure that she will never forget her special day and that every tall cake.
I hope so…it was very special for us, that I do know!
OMG…if I received that for my birthday now I would be crazy about it. 😉
I guess we invariably end up making our own birthday cakes though don´t we 😉
Haha, that is quite the extravagant cake, although I’d have to eat a piece of each layer all myself – none of this crazy splitting it over and sharing it between two plates for me! 🙂
We did eat a lot I have to confess, the splitting happened when we cut it!
wow, absolutely beautifully done! Happy Birthday to Tanya!!!!!
I would have been ecstatic to have a cake like that when I was 7! What am I saying? I would be just as ecstatic to have one now, I should think! It’s irresistible.
There´s something about birthdays that brings out the child in a lot of us (me included) and I think that´s a good thing!
WHAT a beautiful cake!!! I would have shrieked with happiness if presented with a cake like this!! (Even now at my age, haha). I’ve always wanted to make a multi-layered cake, so I’ll have to give your recipe a try when D-Man and I have an oven once again.
Shrieking with happiness is always a good thing I find! Hope the wait for the oven is not too long 😦
Love the colors….any child even adults will jump with glee. Belated Happy Birthday to your granddaughter…I wish her all the happiness. Delicious cake….wish I have a slice to go with my coffee. Have a fun day.
Thank you for your kind wishes – wish I could have sent you over a large slice!
This has got to be the greatest birthday cake ever, and a judicious use of a child’s annual food coloring quota to be sure! We have a seventh birthday looming on the horizon. You may have answered the biggest question of the day.
So pleased to be able to help! It certainly was a huge success and although it takes time to make (more in terms of waiting around for the sponges to cook), it´s not difficult to do. And it´s great fun as well 🙂
Your post put a huge smile on my face from begining to chasing AlFi at the end 🙂
So pleased…and there was plenty of chasing to work off that sugar HIGHHHHH!
Reblogged this on Halal786's Blog and commented:
Love the cake…
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