Rainbow Cookie Cake

INGREDIENTS (6 layers)
Almond Cake Filling
Gel food coloring (yellow, red and green)
2 cups raspberry jam
4 cups flour
6 tbsp almond extract
8 eggs (room temperature)
4 tbsp baking powder
1.5 cups butter (room temperature)
2 cups milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Almond Buttercream Frosting
1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 lb bag of powdered sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp heavy cream
Chocolate Ganache
24 oz chocolate chips
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Exterior Decorating
2 boxes of rainbow cookies
EQUIPMENT
Round Aluminum Cake Pan x 3
Icing Spatula
Icing piping bag with reinforced tip
Straight edge scraper
Parchment paper

PREPARE THE GANACHE

Empty 24 oz of chocolate chips into a bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a boil, and pour on top of the chocolate chips. Stir with a wooden spoon until all chips are melted, and a buttery chocolate mixture is formed. Cover with saran wrap and set to the side for later. Do not put in the refrigerator – we want to keep this at room temperature.

MAKING THE BATTER

Take the eggs and butter out of the refrigerator, and let them come to room temperature. In a large mixing bowl, take all of the ingredients listed under cake filling (except for the jam and food coloring) and mix together with a whisk for approx. 6 minutes until the batter is smooth.

This cake is 6 layers in total, so depending on how many cake pans you have, you will need to cook the layers in separate batches. In total you will need (2) green layers, (2) yellow layers and (2) red layers.

Divide the batter evenly into 6 bowls, and use the gel food coloring to make (2) green batter bowls, (2) yellow batter bowls, and (2) red batter bowls.

NOTE- go very lightly on the gel coloring. A small drop goes a long way – especially with the red. You are aiming for a light red color so put an especially small drop for this one.

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Cut (6) circles of parchment paper to fit into the bottom of the cake pans. Line the pans and use cooking spray to generously grease the sides. Pour your colored batters into separate pans, and cook for 30 minutes. Stick a toothpick into the center, and if it comes out clean your cake layers ready!

Let the layers cool, and carefully flip them out of the pans. If there are any burn spots on the top or sides, use a bread knife to cut them off.

MIX THE ALMOND BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

In a large bowl, use a whisk to mix together all of the ingredients listed under Almond Buttercream Frosting. The frosting should be a thick consistency. If needed, use additional powdered sugar to reach the desired consistency. Place all of the frosting into the piping bag.

LAYER THE CAKE

Place a green cake layer down on the plate you intend to serve the cake on. Use the frosting bag to pipe a thick circle around the outer circumference of the top of the green cake. This frosting will serve as a wall to protect the jam from sliding out. Take the raspberry jam, and by the spoonful, spread around until there is a thin coating over the top of the layer. Repeat this process with a yellow cake, red cake, green cake, yellow cake, and top with the last red cake.

FROST & GANACHE

Once the layers of the cake are in place, take the remaining buttercream frosting and pipe around the edges and top of the cake. Use the bench scraper to even out the frosting. Place cake in refrigerator for 30 minutes, or freezer for 10 minutes to allow the outer frosting to harden.

Use a spoon to begin layering the semi-hard chocolate ganache on the cake. Once you have most of the cake covered by the ganache, use the icing spatula to evenly spread the chocolate. Once the outer layer is covered, place back in the freezer for 5 minutes, or refrigerator for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, cut the store bought rainbow cookies into 1 inch pieces. Clean out any remaining frosting in the piping bag, and replace with the remaining ganache. Use a small dot of ganache to attach each of the rainbow cookie pieces around the edges of the cake. Knowing that the top layer of the inside of the cake is red, place the red end of the cookie at the top so the outer pattern will match the inside when you cut it.

Last but not least, pipe the remaining ganache around the border of the top to hide any uneven rainbow cookie pieces.