R is for Rainbow Cake

Bear and Bee’s grandparents have been up north on holidays for the past 6 weeks so both girls were very excited when they learnt that Grandma and Grandad were back and coming for a visit.  Bee decided straight away that we needed to make a cake for them.  Not a birthday cake but a hip-hip-hooray cake (I think she meant a welcome back cake).  Anyway that decision was easy, now to decide on the cake.

I gave Bee some Donna Hay Kids Issue magazines to look through.  I love Donna Hay as her recipes are inspired and taste great as well as being achievable.  She has written some fabulous cookbooks and I subscribe to her monthly magazine, mostly to look at the pictures these days.   Bee eventually settled on a Rainbow Cake (you can use this recipe from the Donna Hay site and then divide the cake mix into 3 and tint one pink, one with cocoa for chocolate and leave 1 white).   However as the cake in the magazine was in layers and I don’t have that many round cake tins we decided to make it as a marble cake with the colours swirled together (I think as long as there was going to be pink cake, Bee would have agreed to anything).

Rainbow Layer Cake from Donna Hay Kids Issue magazine

 

The recipe was for a melt and mix cake which meant no need to get the electric beaters out and cream the butter and sugar.  It also meant that Bee was able to do most of the steps herself with my supervision (Bear got distracted and disappeared again :)).  Melt and mix cakes do tend to be a little denser than regular cakes, much like a mud cake. BTW there was enough mix to make two cakes as you will see in photos.

Here’s what we did:

Sift the flour into a large bowl.

Stir in the sugar and baking powder.

Get plenty of practice cracking eggs.

Mix in eggs (minus shells), milk, melted butter and vanilla.

Divide cake mix into 3 bowls, leaving one white.

Add pink food colouring to one bowl, cocoa to the other and mix well.

Carefully spoon cake mix into greased and lined tin.

Make lots of pink icing for cake.

When cakes are cooked and cooled completely, spread on icing.

Bee very proud of what she achieved.

Bear and Bee about to enjoy the cake with their grandparents.