About the bake
This recipe featured in the 2013 edition of The Little book of Treats. The Little Book of Treats is produced by Macmillan Cancer Support and 100% of the proceeds go towards helping people affected by cancer. This beautiful cake makes a perfect centrepiece for any party or gathering. Impress your family and friends with this delicious bake.
Method
Step 1:
Preheat your oven to 180°C (fan 160°C, gas mark 4).
Step 2:
Cream together the butter and sugar for the sponge until light and fluffy.
Step 3:
Next add in your (beaten) eggs and incorporate.
Step 4:
Lastly sift the flour in and mix together gently. Add a splash of milk to loosen the mixture if it's too stiff, it should pour, but very slowly.
Step 5:
Now divide the mix into 4 equal portions. Keep one aside for the palest layer then add food colouring to the remaining three, to create a slightly more intense colour in each. The strength of colour is up to you, just go slowly, a little food colouring goes a long way.
Step 6:
Place each colour mixture into a separate 20cm cake tin and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden on top. To test if they are ready, insert a skewer and ensure it comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Step 7:
While your cakes are cooling, mix your frosting. Start with the butter in cubes, at room temperature and mix it to become smooth. Add the icing sugar bit by bit add a splash of milk to loosen it as required.
Step 8:
Sandwich each layer together with a dollop of frosting, spread out to a couple of millimetres thickness. If your cakes are particularly 'dome shaped' on top you might want to slice them off to make them flatter and stack better.
Step 9:
Next use your remaining frosting to ice the sides of the cake using a palette knife to press it into the cake as you spread in one motion. Pay particular attention to filling in the gaps between each layer at the edges.
Step 10:
Finish with the top by spreading icing over the top then decorate your cake as desired.
Ingredients
For the sponge cake
- 225g Self-raising white flour
- 225g Silver Spoon White caster sugar
- 225g Butter (unsalted)
- 4 Egg(s) (free range)
- 1 tsp Milk
- Food colouring (of your choice)
- 225g Self-raising white flour
For the buttercream frosting
- 125g Butter (unsalted)
- 300g Silver Spoon Icing sugar
- 1 tsp Milk
- Sprinkle decorations
Recipe Reviews
Wow, I used this recipe to make a cake for my whole family, and they all loved it. I added some pure vanilla extract just to add that bit of flavour. But I love this recipe!!!
the cake was really good, i added vannilla to the cake to make the taste nicer
I double the recipe as the cake is too thin otherwise
This did not work for me at all. The buttercream was not nice and the cake did not taste good at all. I would not recommend this recipe to anyone, please trust me on this, the recipe is NOT good.
What size cake tins ?
Hi there, please use 20cm (8 inch) cake tins for each layer of this cake. Happy baking!
i think that this was good bu I did not use all of the buttercream since i am not a fan but other than that it was good. I would also add some vanilla extract so there is some flavour. I would recommend this recipe for people that have got a sweet tooth.
Ingredients
For the sponge cake
- 225g Self-raising white flour
- 225g Silver Spoon White caster sugar
- 225g Butter (unsalted)
- 4 Egg(s) (free range)
- 1 tsp Milk
- Food colouring (of your choice)
- 225g Self-raising white flour
For the buttercream frosting
- 125g Butter (unsalted)
- 300g Silver Spoon Icing sugar
- 1 tsp Milk
- Sprinkle decorations