To celebrate Primrose Bakery’s 20th year in Primrose Hill, they’ve sent On The Hill a delicious rainbow layer cake recipe.
Ingredients
Sponge
- 450g golden caster sugar
- 420g self-raising flour
- 50g cornflour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 450g unsalted butter
- 8 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp milk
- Blue, lilac, green, yellow and pink food colours
Icing
- 170g unsalted butter
- 90ml semi-skimmed milk
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 750g icing sugar
- To decorate: multicoloured sprinkles
Makes one 8” layer cake (10−12 portions).
You ideally need five small bowls plus five 8” sandwich tins with removable bases. If not, you can make the layers in relays, cleaning the bowls and tins between uses.
All ingredients should be at room temperature before starting, and the finished cake should be stored at room temperature.
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan.
2. Grease the bottom and sides of the tins thoroughly, then line the base of each tin with greaseproof paper.
3. Put all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir to mix fully. Add in all the wet ingredients and beat together well, using an electric hand-mixer, until fully combined.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the five smaller bowls, then add one of the colours to each bowl, making sure it is mixed through thoroughly – for the yellow, pink and green bowls use a ¼ tsp of colour, and for the blue and lilac bowls use an ⅛ tsp of colour.
5. Put each batter into a separate tin.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the sponge comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes and then turn out to cool fully. Repeat this stage with the other batters if necessary.
6. To make the icing, mix the vanilla extract and milk together in a jug. In a large bowl beat this mixture together with the butter and half the icing sugar until smooth. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and beat again until the buttercream is smooth and creamy.
7. To assemble the cake, place the purple layer of cake on a board, and use a pallet knife to spread a layer of icing on top, repeating with the blue, green, pink and finally the yellow layers. Next, ‘crumb coat’ the cake by spreading some icing thinly all over the top and sides, right down to the bottom. Put the cake in the freezer (or fridge) for 5 minutes to set the icing. Then ice the whole cake again, tidying it up to get the desired finish, and decorate the top with sprinkles.
Thank you Primrose Bakery
