At the end of the rainbow is....

In this case it's not a pot of gold but €50. The school football team will be participating in a tournament in Milan in June and the boys nak collect duit so that the total cost that parents have to pay will be less. Hence they decided to hold a bake sale in school on the Parents Teachers Conference Day when many parents will be in school meeting the teachers to talk about the kids progress...macam hari ambil report card la lebih kurang. Esok nak jual, tengahari baru cakap "Mama...tolong buatkan Rainbow Cake malam ni boleh tak?". Of course mama said ok sebab Mama always have the baking bug malam-malam. Kelenting kelentong in the kitchen until the late hours of the night. Abah dah jeling2x coz he hates it having to go up alone. Imran said he will help but the only thing he did was perah 2 biji lemon...itu ajer tapi dia tolong teman Mama sampai kek siap dekat pukul 1 pagi. So ok la tu.

When the cake dah siap Imran cakap..."Alamak...mcm cake budak kecik ler Mama" coz there was a rainbow of candies sitting on beds of marshmallows. Mama cakap alaaahhhh....ni yang akan buat orang notice the cake, acting like a teaser to the surprise inside. Dia pun bawak la esok pagi nyer pergi sekolah. Kedai depa bukak pukul 12 and they started to sell a piece of cake for €2.50. Then when piece by piece were sold in the blink of an eye the boys got their entrepreneural hat on and upped the price. Dari €2.50 sepotong dah jadi €5.00 sepotong...and.....akibat kreative terlampau, they charged €3 for half a slice. The whole cake was sold out in less than an hour. And they managed to raise €50 just from the sale of one smallish sized Rainbow Cake.

So now, they want to have more Rainbow Cakes at their next bake sale. Macam ni Mama will charge her cost plus some profit la macam ni for penat lelah and kelecehan nak bake the cake layer by layer. Maybe boleh include some Whoppie Pies, popiah and karipap in the next bake sale too. Buat yang gigantic ones with boiled eggs added with the meat filling boleh jual at €2 kut. Kalau bawa Asian finger food like these two memang akan habis coz they love Asian food. Sushi tu tok sah cakap la, they will berkerumun beli from the Japanese mothers and sekejap jer dah habis.

This perfect party cake recipe from Dorie Greenspan is suitable for a rainbow cake. I saw it being adapted to a rainbow cake on Elissa's blog http://17andbaking.com/2009/07/16/rainbow-pride-party-cake/. It's tangy and doesn't have the jelak taste later. The frosting too is fresh with a lemony zing without the use of icing sugar.

RAINBOW CAKE

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk

4 large egg whites

1 1/2 cup sugar (I reduced to 1 cup only)

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Food coloring

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and put a rack in the middle or upper third of the oven. Butter two 9″x13″ glass pans and line with buttered parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the egg whites and buttermilk.

Cream the butter, zest, and sugar in a mixer on medium speed for a full 3 minutes until very light and fluffy. Beat in the lemon extract, then add 1/3 of the flour mixture, still on medium speed.

Beat in half of the egg-buttermilk mixture, then half of the remaining flour mixture, then the last of the egg-buttermilk mixture, and finally the last of the flour, beating until the batter is smooth. Beat the entire batter on medium high for two minutes until completely smooth and mixed.

Divide the batter in two (it’s about 6 cups total batter.) Dye each batter a different color of the rainbow and scrape into the two pans.

Bake 20 minutes, rotating halfway through, or until a thin knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in the pans five minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack. To ensure moistness, once the cakes are cooled, wrap immediately and chill.

BUTTERCREAM
• 1 CUP SUGAR
• 4 LARGE EGG WHITES
• 3 STICKS (12 OUNCES) UNSALTED BUTTER, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
• 1/4 CUP FRESH LEMON JUICE (FROM 2 LARGE LEMONS)
• 1 TEASPOON PURE VANILLA EXTRACT

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.

Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

Assembling the cake

Cut baking papers into strips and place under the cake. Set the purple layer in the bottom. Spread with a small amount of melted jam, then a small amount of cream.

Top with the blue layer. Spread again with jelly, then a small amount of buttercream. You want very thin layers of buttercream, just enough to cover the cake. Repeat with the remaining layers, spreading each with jelly and alternating between and buttercream.

Wipe excess filling off the sides. Cover the entire cake with buttercream. Some people make a first layer of frosting (a crumb coat) and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Then they frost the entire cake and decorate accordingly to one's taste.