Rainbow drip cake (V)

Surprise your friends and family with this show stopper of a cake!

SERVES 40 PREP 110 MINUTES COOK 60 MINUTES

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 600g Co-op unsalted butter, softened
• 600g Co-op caster sugar
• 9 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
• 600g self raising flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 90ml Co-op semi-skimmed milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Gel food colouring (purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red)
• For the cream cheese icing:
• 600g Co-op unsalted butter, softened
• 750g icing sugar
• 600g Co-op full fat cream cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the drizzle icing:

• 200g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• Gel food colouring (purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red)
• 1 pack Co-op Hundreds and Thousands

You will need:

• 6 clean piping bags
• 3x 20cm cake tins
• 3 x 15cm cake tins
• 1 pallet knife or icing scraper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/Gas 4

2. Grease and line all 6 cake tins

3. For the 20cm base tier, whisk 400g of the butter and 400g of the sugar together using an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add 6 eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition, then sift in 400g of the flour and 1/2 tsp of the salt

4. Fold with a large spoon until just combined

5. Stir in 60ml of the milk and 1/2 tsp of the vanilla extract, then weigh the whole mixture

6. Divide the weight by 3 and spoon each third into a separate bowl

7. Add one each of the purple, blue or green food colourings to each bowl, until you reach your required intensity of colour

8. Transfer to the 3 x 20cm tins and bake in the oven for 25-30 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean

9. Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 5 mins before turning out to cool completely

10. Meanwhile follow the steps again to make the sponge for the 15cm top tier – using 200g butter, 200g sugar, 3 eggs, 200g flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 30ml milk and 1 tsp vanilla extract

11. This time, use the yellow, orange and red food colourings

12. Once all the cakes are cool, use a serrated knife to trim the tops to make the cakes level

13. Lightly trim or scrape away any discoloured edges too

14. Next, make the cream cheese icing

15. Whisk the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy

16. Gradually add the cream cheese a spoonful at a time, whisking until combined

17. Add the vanilla extract and whisk for 1 more minute

18. Sandwich the 3 x 20cm sponges together using a few tablespoons of the icing between each layer

19. Start with the purple sponge, then the blue, then the green

20. Separately sandwich the yellow, orange and red sponges together so the red is at the top

21. Cover both cakes completely with the remaining icing, using a pallet knife or icing scraper to create a smooth surface

22. Leave to set in the fridge for 1 hour before decorating

23. For the drizzle icing, put the icing sugar in a bowl and add the beaten egg white and lemon juice

24. Whisk on a low speed for 2-3 mins until you have a smooth, stiff-peak consistency

25. Stir in 1 tbsp cold water until you have a thick but just runny icing that will dribble slowly down the cake

26. Test on a plate to see how quickly it dribbles, and add 1-2 tsp more water if needed

27. Divide between 6 bowls and add a little food colouring to each, then spoon into piping bags

28. Take the cakes out of the fridge and put the small one on the top of the larger one

29. Use the hundreds and thousands to create a band around the bottom tier

30. Then, using a skewer or knife, lightly indent the top tier to make marks where the colour wheel will go – you'll need 12 wedge shapes

31. Use the piping bags to pipe the wedges (in the order purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red) round the cake twice

32. Finally, gently encourage dribbles to come down the sides of the top tier and begin dribbling down the second tier

33. Leave to set