Sunday, May 6, 2012

Rainbow Cake with Swiss Lemon Meringue Buttercream

This has been something I've been itching to bake.
Finally, my sister has decided to bake this Rainbow Cake with  Swiss Lemon Meringue Buttercream and so I helped her with it. This cake was pretty much fun as the colours made me very merry! This cake was about 4.5 inches wide but about 15cm tall! (: It took us a total of 4 hours to put this together. 
This recipe was taken and adapted from Whisk Kid.




Do check out this version of Rainbow Cake that I've revisited. This one tastes better (:



Rainbow Cake with Swiss Lemon Meringue Buttercream Recipe
Ingredients:

CAKE
150 g butter, unsalted at room temperature
284g castor sugar
4 egg whites (I used small eggs)
2 tsp vanilla paste
285g plain flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
235ml of milk, room temperature
Wilton Gel colouring (6 colours: purple, blue, green, orange, yellow and red)

FROSTING
6 egg whites, room temperature
234 g castor sugar
300g butter, room temperature
1 1/3 tsp lemon extract

10g of dark coverture chocolate
Hundreds and thousands

This post is IMAGE INTENSIVE! (:


Steps:
The ingredients! I'm using 2 2 bucks silicon cake 'pans' from Daiso.

The butter.

The flour.

Add the baking powder.

Add the salt. 

The milk. 
I left mine to 'warm' to room temperature after taking it out from the fridge.

Sift the flour mixture.

Butter and sugar.

Whisk the butter and sugar till creamy.

Add in one egg white at a time, ensuring that each each egg white gets well incorporated before adding the next.

Whisk it!

Add the vanilla paste.

Add 1/3 of the flour into the mixture and mix well.

Add 1/3 of the milk and mix well.

Add the other 1/3 of flour and mix well.

1/3 more milk.
Repeat till milk and flour are all incorporated.

The cake batter!

Divide batter into 6 portions. You may weigh them to get accurate measurements but I went by visual judgement (: Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Add a little gel food colouring into each bowl and mix well. It's better to add a lil' at a time so that you can adjust accordingly if needed. Do note that the colour of the batter will be the colour of your cake layer! (: I LOVE pop colours so the cake batter were very bright and vibrant!

Line the bottom of the pans with greaseproof paper. This ensures that the cake can be easily removed after it has been baked. You can 'drop' the pan lightly on the table to 'release' any trapped air bubbles in the batter before baking it. These are the blue and purple layers!

Bake the cake for 15 minutes each or till a toothpick comes out clean from the centre of the cake. Let it cool for about 5 minutes before removing cake. I let my cake layers cool under the ceiling fan. Allow all layers of cake to cool before assembling the cake.

Line the pan again and bake the remaining colours individually.
It took 3 batches to bake all 6 colours. (:

Separate 6 egg whites from the yolks.

Separated. Keep the yolks for other 'projects'.

The sugar.

The butter.

My sister decided to be artistic.

A lil' more. XD

Place the egg whites and sugar in a pot suitable for double boiling. 

Double boil the mixture and whisk the mixture lightly. Heat it up till' all the sugar has dissolved. Use your fingers to 'rub' the mixture to feel for sugar grains.. if you can still feel it, whisk more.. Else, if it's smooth, the mixture is ready. Don't worry, it's warm and not hot enough to burn your fingers (:

Done and ready!

Bring sugar mixture into a mixing bowl and whisk till mixture reaches room temperature. I used high speed for this.

Whisking..


When it's cool, it'll be slightly stiff.

On medium-low speed, add the butter in, one tablespoon at a time and allow it to be fully incorporated before adding another tablespoon.

Mix it for about 5 minutes on high speed.

Add the vanilla paste and lemon extract. Mix till' well incorporated. Mixture will be 'soupy' at this point of time. Fret not, pop it into the fridge for 15 minutes or so.

Whip on low speed for 2 - 3 minutes till' buttercream is thick and workable.

Set the first layer on a cake base. I used a 6 inch cake base. I LOVE my new turntable! ((:
REMEMBER to remove/peel the greaseproof paper from the bottom of the cake!

Spread a layer of buttercream on the first layer. Should the buttercream be too soft to work with during assembly, pop the cake and the buttercream into the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up the buttercream. However, do whisk the buttercream on medium-low speed for 2 - 3 minutes till' it becomes 'workable' before using it.

Add the second layer of cake.

Add more buttercream and spread well!

Third layer!

This is how I cooled my cake. (:

Forth layer.

Fifth layer.

6th layer. Then, spread a thin layer of buttercream on the cake also known as the crumb coating to 'set' the cake. Allow the crumb coating to 'set' in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Spread the final coating of buttercream for the cake. 
I played with my 'tools' to create the lines on the side of the cake.


Set cake in fridge for an hour to allow it to firm up before decorating.
I let the cake 'rest' in the fridge overnight.

Place the dark coverture chocolate in a microwavable bowl! (:

Melt the chocolate in the microwave oven on medium speed at 20s intervals till chocolate buttons become 30% melted. Mix the chocolate. The warmth will melt the rest of the chocolate buttons.

Mix well.

Place chocolate in a piping bag and cut a small tip.

DRAW!!! My sister drew a 9gag meme on the cake!



I sprinkled some hundreds and thousands for the meme's tee. 
Pop the cake back into the fridge for 15 mins to allow the chocolate to 'set'. 

The layers! (:

The colours are just so beautiful!

I like this cake very much cos' it makes me happy! Hope it lifts up your spirits like it did for me! (:

Check out this version of the recipe that Joey baked! She used cream cheese instead of buttercream and a 7" pan instead of the one I used from Daiso (: Still, it's very pretty! 



Do check out this version of Rainbow Cake that I've revisited. This one tastes better (:



I'd love to see the bakes or stuff you've cooked using the blog's recipe! Do share photos of stuff you've baked or cooked using the blog's recipe with me either via FB message to http://facebook.com/limcynthia OR http://facebook.com/thebakingbiatch OR via email at cynthia.lim.hl@gmail.com! I look forward to hearing from you! (: 



24 comments:

  1. Hi Cynthia, what is the size of the cake pan that you are using? Can I use a 7" with this recipe? TIA!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Joey! I used a 15cm pan for this (: Yeah a 7" will work but the layers will be much thinner.. Maybe you can multiply the recipe by 1.5! (:

      Delete
  2. Thanks for the fast reply. Will try it out soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi Joey,

      No prob! do let me know how it goes if possible! (:
      Have fun!

      Love,
      Cynthia

      Delete
    2. Hi Cynthia,

      I've posted a pic of the rainbow cake in MM FB group.
      I'm using a 7" cake pan without increasing the ingredients as I do not want a tall cake.
      The layers are just nice.
      I'm more confident now to bake another one for kiddo's birthday next week.
      Thanks for the guidance! :D

      Delete
    3. Hi Joey!

      I'm glad your cake turned out well! It's really pretty! ((:

      Delete
  3. Hi Cynthia, May I know if i make the cake two days earlier and put in the fridge, will the cake turns hard and dry?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hello!

      it's best to bake it the day itself, if not the day before as the cake can't be kept for long. I'd usually recommend keeping the cake for 3-4 days max so if you don't consume it soon, you shouldn't keep it for long after that..

      That aside, yes the cake will dry up more as it's kept for a longer time in the fridge especially if you didn't cream it right.

      I hope this helps!

      Regards,
      Cynthia

      Delete
  4. Do you have just buttercream recipe instead of meringue?
    I dun know what to do with the leftover egg yolks......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello!

      I haven't got a buttercream recipe that I like enough as yet (:
      You can try baking a kueh lapis with loads of yolks left!

      http://thebakingbiatch.blogspot.sg/2012/07/kueh-lapis-legit.html

      Regards,
      Cynthia

      Delete
  5. Hello! May I know why to buy the gel colourings in singapore? Or liquid colourings works as well? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! Baking shops like Phoon Huat & Sun Lik carries them (: Liquid colourings are not as vibrant and easy to work with. I'd suggest investing in a set of wilton gel food colouring (:

      Love,
      Cynthia

      Delete
  6. im going to try out the rainbow cake using ur receipe! excited and hopefully it turns out well! & btw wads MM FB? haha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do check out the Rainbow Cake II recipe in the blog (: that one's much more well received! (:

      Ah! It was a group for baking and cooking I was in previously. But it's all passe. You may wish to join us at Culinary Kitchenette FB Group in facebook (:

      Love,
      Cynthia

      Delete
  7. hello! can i check with you how much is the turntable and where did you buy it from?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Nurul!

      I got my turntable from Korean Gmarket but I know that Phoon Huat sells them too. The plastic one from phoonhuat should cost you no more than ten dollars (:

      Love,
      Cynthia

      Delete
  8. thank you cynthia! can i ask if the swiss lemon meringue melt if its being left out for a certain amount of time?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! It's supposed to hold but my sis who had the cake kept the cake refrigerated till she was ready to serve it.. It was out for a while (like an hour) during travelling but returned to the fridge after she got to the restaurant.

      Delete
  9. Hi cynthia, can i know if the lemon extract and the vanilla paste i change into vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste, will it still work?

    ReplyDelete
  10. hi cynthia

    can i reduce the sugar by 50%?

    thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hello. no, it doesn't work that way for baking.

      you can probably reduce it by 20% (at max).

      Delete
  11. Hi Cynthia

    Can I use cake flour? And on a 6 inch pan? Tks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Raine,

      yes cake flour is fine.. a 6" pan is good too.. your layers will be a little thinner but no issues at all (:

      You may want to check the newer recipe I shared.. that's easier to work with (:

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...