Wizard of Oz Rainbow Cake

This week was my cousin's 30th birthday. Ever since I remember, she has been obsessed with the Wizard of Oz. So, of course it was the first thing I thought of when I was planning her cake.

When it came to the actual cake, there was only one option. It had to be a (somewhere over the) rainbow cake! This was my first ever seven layered rainbow cake. I wanted to keep the layers nice and thin, so used a five layer recipe and then divided it into seven colours. I then used a very thin layer of buttercream to cover the cake. I loved how it turned out.

For the decoration, I decided to give fondant another go. I know it is not my strong point, but practice makes perfect, right? Well I've a lot of practice to go, but some strategically placed yellow brick roads and poppy fields covered any holes and made this cake look pretty presentable.

But the most important part is, the birthday girl loved it! And she sent me this snap of when she cut it open. It looks pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

Seven Layer Rainbow Cake

(adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes)

355g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

225ml milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

400g caster sugar

225g butter, softened

4 eggs

Food colouring

Preheat oven to 180ºC and grease and line your tins. I only had 2 round tins, so had to bake this in batches. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside. Mix milk and vanilla together in a measuring jug and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mix and milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture (Add 1/4 of the dry mixture followed by 1/3 of the wet mixture at a time). Beat until smooth, occasionally scraping bowl with a spatula. Divide mixture evenly into 7 bowls and add a different colour of the rainbow to each bowl. Pour batter into prepared tins and bake each layer for about 10 minutes or until a skewer into the centre comes out clean. They're very thin layers so keep a careful eye on them. Cool on a wire rack. 

Vanilla Buttercream
150g unsalted butter, softened

225g icing sugar

2 tbsp hot water

1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add in half the icing sugar, half the water and the vanilla. Beat until combined. Add in the remaining icing sugar and water (if needed). Beat until combined.