Janet
19-08-2008, 07:08 PM
Rainbow Birthday Cake
elfling
I did this for Anise's first birthday and was really happy with how it turned out. I made the cake in a round cake tin and then cut it in half so that there was a flat edge to sit on the cake board. I stacked the other half behind it so it became a really deep cake, and I wanted to do another rainbow on that side also, but ran out of time. I think it could look better with more rainbow skewers packed a little closer together... but again I ran out of time. We just used violets straight from our garden to represent the colour violet, and also made a violet coloured icing for the cake. The violets were really yummy by themselves without sugar coating.
Banana cake:
* Cream 250g of butter with 2 cups of brown sugar.
* Add 4 eggs, one at a time, mixing well.
* Add 2 cups of mashed banana and mix.
* Sift together 1 cup wholemeal flour and 1 cup rye flour, 2 cups plain flour, baking powder, 2 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp mixed spice and 2 tsp bicarb of soda.
* Add at least 2 cups milk... maybe more!!! I haven't written down this bit and just go by feel... so add enough that it's nice and moist and cake mixturey but not runny.
* Place in round cake tin and bake for 1 to 1 and 1/4 hours at 180 degrees.
Wait until the cake cools before you cut it in half. I just used strawberries for red, rockmelon for orange, banana for yellow, kiwi for green, blueberries for blue, cherries for indigo and the violets for violet.
The icing was just icing sugar and a bit of butter and food colouring.
There'a a glaze you can make to brush onto the fruits to make them really shiny if you want to:
Bring 1 cup of water with 1/4 cup sugar to the boil. Add 1 or 2 tsp of cornstarch dissolved in some cold water and lemon juice. Boil until it thickens and then brush onto the fruits when cool.
elfling
I did this for Anise's first birthday and was really happy with how it turned out. I made the cake in a round cake tin and then cut it in half so that there was a flat edge to sit on the cake board. I stacked the other half behind it so it became a really deep cake, and I wanted to do another rainbow on that side also, but ran out of time. I think it could look better with more rainbow skewers packed a little closer together... but again I ran out of time. We just used violets straight from our garden to represent the colour violet, and also made a violet coloured icing for the cake. The violets were really yummy by themselves without sugar coating.
Banana cake:
* Cream 250g of butter with 2 cups of brown sugar.
* Add 4 eggs, one at a time, mixing well.
* Add 2 cups of mashed banana and mix.
* Sift together 1 cup wholemeal flour and 1 cup rye flour, 2 cups plain flour, baking powder, 2 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp mixed spice and 2 tsp bicarb of soda.
* Add at least 2 cups milk... maybe more!!! I haven't written down this bit and just go by feel... so add enough that it's nice and moist and cake mixturey but not runny.
* Place in round cake tin and bake for 1 to 1 and 1/4 hours at 180 degrees.
Wait until the cake cools before you cut it in half. I just used strawberries for red, rockmelon for orange, banana for yellow, kiwi for green, blueberries for blue, cherries for indigo and the violets for violet.
The icing was just icing sugar and a bit of butter and food colouring.
There'a a glaze you can make to brush onto the fruits to make them really shiny if you want to:
Bring 1 cup of water with 1/4 cup sugar to the boil. Add 1 or 2 tsp of cornstarch dissolved in some cold water and lemon juice. Boil until it thickens and then brush onto the fruits when cool.