Lemon Rainbow Layer Cake

Look out for paste food colours rather than regular liquid colours – you only need to add a dot to give a really intense colour.

SERVES 15

For The Cake:

✱ 5 large eggs

✱ 300g (10oz) margarine

(we used Stork)

✱ 300g (10oz) golden caster sugar

✱ 300g (10oz) self-raising flour

✱ Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

✱ 2tbsp lemon juice

✱ Red, pink, yellow and blue paste colour (we used Rainbow Dust ProGel Food Colouring, from amazon.co.uk or Hobbycraft)

For The Filling & Frosting:

✱ 5tbsp lemon curd

✱ 150g (5oz) unsalted butter

✱ 300g (10oz) icing sugar

✱ 125g (4oz) full-fat cream cheese

✱ 100g (3½oz) sugar sprinkles

You Will Need:

✱ 1 cake topper (we used Meri Meri Shooting Star Cake Topper from amazon.co.uk and John Lewis)

✱ Wilton Easy Layer Cake Pan Set (from Lakeland) or

5 x 15cm (6in) cake tins

1 Grease and base line the cake tins. Heat the oven to 180°C or Gas Mark 4. Put the butter, sugar, eggs and flour in the bowl of a freestanding mixer with the lemon zest and juice. Mix together until smooth.

2 Take five bowls and evenly divide the mixture between them. add a dot of red paste colour to one, pink to another, yellow to another and two dots of yellow colour with a dot of red paste for the orange layer, and a dot of blue. Stir each one to evenly mix in the colour.

3 Bake for 15 mins or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. upturn the cakes, remove from tins, cool.

4 whizz the butter and icing sugar together in a processor or mixer until smooth and well combined, add the cream cheese and pulse for just a few seconds to mix in.

5 Put the green cake on a stand, spread over 1tbsp lemon curd. layer up the coloured cakes with lemon curd in between.

6 Spread a thin layer of frosting over the sides of the cake and chill for 10 mins. Spread a thicker layer around the cake sides. Tip the sprinkles down the centre of some baking parchment. lift the cake, holding it by the top and base, then roll the sides in the sprinkles to cover. Put on a serving plate.

7 Spread rest of the frosting on top of the cake. Finish by pushing in the cake topper.