Rainbow in the Clouds Cake

If you've returned from our Cute Kids event and are looking for something else to keep the children entertained, why not try baking this wonderful Rainbow Cake. It's a really fun cake to make and a great way for the kids to learn about colour mixing. It’s hard to imagine how the stripes will develop as you spoon the cake mixture into the centre of the tin, but persevere! There’s a great feeling of anticipation as you cut through the plain while icing to reveal the psychedelic colours within and the children will enjoy the reaction from anyone not present for the baking.



225 g butter, softened
225 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
225 g plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
a few drops of red, yellow and blue food colouring

For the icing:
100 g butter
200 g icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp water

• Preheat the oven to 180c / gas 4 and grease and line a deep 23cm round cake tin.
• Use an electric whisk to beat the butter with the sugar and vanilla extract until softly whipped.
• Add the flour, baking powder and eggs to the bowl and whisk everything together until evenly combined.
• Divide the mixture evenly between 6 bowls and colour one bowl red, one yellow and one blue.
• Combine the food colourings to make the other colours: red and yellow makes orange, yellow and blue makes green, and blue and red makes purple.
• Dollop a tablespoon of the red cake mixture into the centre of the cake tin. Add a spoonful of orange cake mix on top, followed by yellow, then green, blue and purple.
• Give the tin a shake to help level out the mixture then continue to add alternate colours, always spooning it into the centre of the tin.
• When all the cake mixture has been used, give the tin a final shake to level it out then transfer it to the oven.
• Bake the cake until the top is springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Ovens vary widely and the cake may take anywhere between 45 minutes and 1 hour and 15 minutes to cook, so just keep checking after the 45 minute mark until it is done.
• Leave the cake to cool in its tin for 10 minutes then run a knife round the inside edge and turn it out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely.
• The cake looks pretty enough just to serve on its own, but I like the surprise element you get from cutting through the plain white icing and discovering the rainbows within.
• The trick to making lovely pale fluffy butter-cream is to whip the butter really well with an electric mixer first. Add the icing sugar gradually after this stage, making sure that you start off slowly to avoid covering the kitchen in a dusty layer, then beat it well again.
• Spread the icing all over the cake with a spatula then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to set the outside.

You can pick up all the ingredients for this recipe at M&S in Festival Place.


Happy nibbling!
Fiona B x