Rainbow mirror cake

STEPS

1. Prepare the sponge cake layers — add the food colouring to the egg yolk mixture before beating and folding in the egg whites.

2. Make the American butter cream, by beating (in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer) the butter, icing sugar, vanilla, and milk or cream, until fluffy and combined. Stack the coloured sponge cake layers, icing between the layers with butter cream. When done, use a bread knife to level the outside of the cake, and frost as smoothly as possible with buttercream, before leaving it in the fridge to chill thoroughly.

3. Separate the white chocolate mirror glaze into 4-5 separate bowls (one of them being a large jug), and dye them different colours using food dye. Note that the colour of the glaze in the jug will be your ‘base’ colour. Carefully pour each coloured mirror glaze into the center of the jug — you should have concentric circles of colours in the jug.

Cake glazing

1. Ensure the glaze is between 30-35ºC (33ºC is usually ideal). If you have just made the glaze, wait for it to cool to this range (it should take about 2 hours). If you are using refrigerated glaze, heat it up in the microwave and let it cool down.

2. Set a wire rack on top of a baking sheet lined with cling film or baking paper. Remove the frozen cake from a silicone mold or cake ring and ensure that it is completely frozen — place the cake on the wire rack.

3. Immediately pour a generous amount of the glaze on top of the cake in a circular motion so you can coat the sides of the cake all around. Next, immediately stroke the surface of the cake lightly with an offset spatula to drop excess glaze and make it thinner. Move the spatula parallel to the cake to create an even layer.

4. Wait until the glaze is no longer dripping, then insert an offset spatula under the bottom of the cake and move it in a circular motion to cut off the dripped glaze. Transfer the cake onto a plate or cake board.