How To Make a Rainbow Cake

Today is my better half's birthday. He is turning the ripe old age of 23. 

There is just over a week between our birthday's but in between my big day and his...he always likes to remind me that I am actually a whole year older than him. 

Despite the fact it is just for 8 days.

As each birthday comes and goes, and Luke get's more gadgets year after year. It get's harder and harder to find that perfect birthday gift for him.

I have had to think outside the box and find something new and unique for him to do. Take last year for instance when Luke took part in a Monster Truck Driving Experience, and even got to drive the big Red truck out of the recent Mcdonald's advert.

I have booked him nights away luxurious hotels and even disguised gifts. One year he even thought I had bought him a Playstation 3...Only to discover it was a weighted Playstation 3 box....with no Playstation 3. Of course after seeing that sad puppy dog face, he did indeed get one later that year. 

This year though I am all out of ideas. My present finding fountain has run dry.

So I gave him some money to do as he will, invested in that new Sat Nav that he needs and then I sat looking at Bex's 'How to make a rainbow cake' post. I thought how great the finished cake looked and how unusual it was, most of all just how bright and colourful it was.

 I was inspired. 

So before that inspiration disappeared I began to get the ingredients together to make the monstrous recipe that this cake demanded. Let's just say that when Bex said you need a big mixing bowl...You really do need a big mixing bowl. 

You need to put the mixture into a number of individual bowls before adding your food colouring, and then transferring them into the cake tin to bake. The food colouring is where things go from messy...to messier. Unfortunately I am no cooking goddess and I do make a mess. A big mess.

I began baking at 7pm last night, just after Leo had gone down to bed. At 1:00am last night I was still waiting for my final cake to come out of the oven. I guess if you are using one cake tin to cook a number of different cake layers...You can expect the drawn out cooking duration!

I found by the end that I had food colouring everywhere. All over my hands, all over the table and all up the wall around the kitchen sink. It was like a big bag of rainbow drops had casually exploded all over the kitchen. 

Despite the grueling haul in the kitchen, and the very late night. The cake was completed this morning and topped off with Marzipan. The decorations were applied and the cake was ready. Ready to shine rainbows out upon the moment of impact. The impact of the knife slowly but surely cutting through all those layers that took me so long to bake. 

Luke arrived home from work tonight and there it was sitting on the table. After we had lit Luke's candles and Leo looked on in awe, we took the knife and allowed those rainbows to shine. I actually found myself looking around the room for the leprechaun and the pot of gold. 

So Happy Birthday Luke!

Rainbow Cake Recipe

16oz/450g butter

28oz/800g
sugar

1lb/900g flour

8 eggs

4 tsps vanilla essence

6 tsps baking powder

500ml milk

food colouring paste

Here is our Rainbow Cake!