RAINBOW BUTTERCREAM CAKE

SERVES 8 PREP 30 MINS COOK 45 MINS

250g unsalted butter, softened 1 ½ cups caster sugar 4 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 4 cups self-raising flour 1 1/3 cups milk

1/3 cup bought lemon curd

BUTTERCREAM

300g butter, at room temperature 3 ½ cups icing sugar mixture ¼ cup milk Few drops each of red, orange, yellow, green, blue,

purple and pink food colouring

1 Preheat oven to moderate, 180°C. Lightly grease two deep 20cm cake pans and line with baking paper.

2 In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Fold in flour and milk, alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Spoon mixture into pans and smooth tops. Bake 40-45 mins until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in pans 5 mins. Transfer to a rack to cool.

3 Trim top of cakes until level. Place one cake on a cake stand. Top with curd, then remaining butter cake.

4 Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Gradually add icing sugar, beating well after each addition, until combined. Beat in milk. Reserve ½ cup of the butter cream. Divide remaining butter cream into 7 equal portions. Tint each portion with a few drops of a different food colouring. Spread reserved uncoloured buttercream over top and side of cake.

5 Spoon each portion of tinted buttercream into a plastic piping bag fitted with a star-shaped nozzle. (You’ll need a variety of star-shaped nozzles.) Pipe small dots of buttercream over cake in different areas until cake is completely covered (step 1 & 2).