California Prune Rainbow Cake

Serves 14-16
Preparation time: 30-40min
Cooking time: 45min
Ingredients:
210g Chopped California Prunes
100g California Prune Pur?e
420g plain flour
360g caster sugar
6 teaspoon baking powder
400g unsalted butter
390ml whole milk
3 medium eggs + 3 egg yolks
195g Greek yoghurt
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Food gel – colour of choice
125g icing sugar + extra to dust
Edible flowers to decorate

Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 170?C.
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and 150g of the butter in the bowl of a free-standing mixer. Mix slowly until combined, then increase the speed until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs.
Gradually pour in half of the milk.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla with the remaining milk and gradually add this to the mixture and beat until smooth. Do not over mix.

Using a spatula, mix in the yoghurt and chopped California Prunes until combined.
Divide the mixture into 6 bowls if doing a 6 tier cake or 3 bowls if doing a 3 tier cake.

Use small amounts of the food gel to get desired colour – graduating from dark to light.

Line and grease 2 8″ cake tins and cook 2 cakes at a time for 15-18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and continue cooking the other cakes.

Once all 6 cakes are cooled, use a knife to remove any brown edges and to make all the cakes the same shape.
As the cakes are cooling make the butter icing by beating together the remaining butter (250g) with the icing sugar until smooth. Divide the mixture in half and place one half into a bowl – leave this its natural colour and then divide the other half into 2 bowls. Again add food gel in small amounts so you end up with 3 graduating colours from dark to natural.

Place the first tier onto a cake board and using a flat knife spread a small amount of uncoloured butter icing over the bottom. Then spread with a small amount of California Prune pur?e (you may have to add a small amount of water to get the right consistency). Add the next layer and repeat the spreading of butter icing and California Prune pur?e until you get to the top layer.

Cover the whole cake with a thin layer of uncoloured butter icing (crumb coat) and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.

Remove from the fridge and start at the bottom by icing the cake with the darkest colour – graduating up to the uncoloured icing around the top of the cake.

Either leave the icing smooth or use a pattern, decorate with the flowers and dust with icing.

Recipe courtesy of California Prunes
Website: www.californiaprunes.co.uk