Le Dolci Rainbow Cake

Vanilla Cake

Yield: 6 x 6 Vanilla Cake Layers 

• 188 g Oil
• 375 g Sugar
• 4 PC Eggs
• 338 g Flour
• 12 g Baking Powder 
• 5 g Salt
• 150 g Milk 
• 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla 

Method:

1. In a stand mixer, combine oil, sugar, and vanilla 
2. Add eggs one at a time and mix
3. In a bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt 
4. Alternate between dry ingredients and milk 
5. Divide batter into 6 bowls (Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red) 
6. Add colour to each bowl and gently fold the batter 
7. Scoop 200 g batter in each tin 
8. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until skewer inserted into the center comes out clean 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream 

• 40 g between each layer 
• Approximately 250 g - 300 g for the outside of the cake  

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 2 cups or 400g of granulated sugar
• 4 Egg whites or 1/2 cup or 120g of Egg whites
• 2 pounds or 4 cups or 908g of Butter (soft and unsalted)
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla 
• Pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl over a double boiler on medium to high heat, combine egg whites and sugar.
2. Slowly whisk the mixture together until sugar begins to melt and egg white becomes frothy. Be careful of hot steam from the double boiler. I like to wear oven mitts while mixing.
3. The mixture is ready when the sugar is dissolved (no gritty sugar). The mixture will also be much more runny from when you started the process of cooking.
4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Starting on medium low, mix until mixture has cooled down.
5. Once there's no visible steam coming from the mixture, turn the mixer to medium-high speed and continue mixing.
6. The mixture will triple in volume and will become white, fluffy and glossy. You can now add the butter.
7. Add softened butter gradually and whip until incorporated, then add the salt and vanilla or the flavours of your choice.
8. Flavour the buttercream however you like, whip in extract, melted chocolate, fruit purees or even Oreo crumbs, let your creativity shine!!!

Buttercream Troubleshooting: 

The number one problem with buttercream is splitting, if this happens try one of the following solutions.

With heat – Warm Buttercream slightly, this can be done by microwaving it of 10 second blasts whisking each time until it comes together.  Alternatively, remove a tablespoon of the mixture, melt it completely in the microwave and add it back to the mixture until it comes together.

With friction – Continue to whip buttercream in a stand mixer, sometimes it can take approximately 10 minutes to come back together.

With butter – Add more room temperature butter, do this 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes back together.

American Buttercream

Yields enough buttercream to stack and mask a 6” round cake

Ingredients:

• 900g butter (room temperature)
• 480g icing sugar (sifted)
• upto 250g whole milk(room temperature)

Method:

1. Mix the room temperature butter using an electric mixer until the mixture is smooth and fluffy
2. 2.Add sifted icing sugar in 2-3 parts. Mix each time starting on low speed and mix until the mixture is homogeneous, light and fluffy.
3. 3.Add milk a little at a time on low speed, thoroughly incorporating any liquid before the addition of more milk and scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. You can add more milk for a looser texture or less milk for a firmer texture
4. 4.Use buttercream to decorate on the same day or transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to one week or the freezer for up to three months.

Tips and Tricks:

you can heat up your milk to room temperature in the microwave or in a saucepan

• icing sugar is also called “powdered” or “confectioner’s sugar” in some countries
• granulated sugar can be used in place of icing sugar, but the frosting will be a little bit granular in texture from the sugar crystals
• pair bold flavours which go well with butter for an ‘American’ buttercream

How to’s What type of dye coloring to use:Gel colors are more concentrated and thicker than food coloring, so you do not need much for coloring. Food coloring is typically watered-down gel color and therefore you are only able to achieve a light color. Since the gel colors are highly concentrated, you do not need very much of it to get a bold color. You can find gel coloring at your local cake supply store, bulk store, or online. Food coloring is most commonly found in the grocery store and usually comes in 4 basic colors like red, yellow, green and blue. The color palette you choose may determine whether you use gel or food coloring for your buttercream needs.

How to color buttercream:

The amount of buttercream you need to color will vary depending on what you are making and how many colors you need. We recommend starting with 1 cup. You can always darken your color by adding more gel or lighten your color by adding more uncolored buttercream. 

For soft pastel color, ¼ drop or less is usually enough for 1 cup of buttercream. Use a toothpick to add the gel color to your buttercream. After the toothpick comes in contact with the buttercream, do not touch the gel color bottle with it again. You can contaminate your bottle with buttercream that can then become rancid. 

If you are dying a whole batch of buttercream the same color, start with 1-2 drops and gradually add more. For darker colors you can start with 3-4 drops and go from there. Be careful when trying to create a dark color as the buttercream can easily start to taste like the dye and stain the inside of our mouth. For these reasons soft pastel seems to be the color choice when it comes to decorating. Buttercream is naturally off white due to the yellow coloring of the butter and vanilla extract.

If you are planning to color your buttercream you can always use a clear vanilla extract. Additionally, you can add a touch of purple gel color to your buttercream to achieve a color that appears whiter. You can try out this trick if you are looking to keep your buttercream white for masking and decorating. How to fill and handle a piping bag- Fit your piping bag with a coupler and then with the piping tip of your choosing and cut the point of your piping bag so the coupler fits through. Attach the tip to the coupler and tighten with the top of your coupler. Roll your piping bag inside out halfway so it is easy to fill with buttercream. Fill the bag half to two-thirds full of buttercream and secure the end tightly with a chip clip or close pin. Hold the bag at the top. It’s always best to apply pressure from the top rather than right by the tip. (Think of a tube of toothpaste.) As you use your buttercream you will periodically need to tighten your bag by re-securing the top.

LET'S BAKE!