The Best Rainbow Cake

If you've not seen it already go and check out the Double Rainbow Cake I made last month as I have used the same recipe this time too. The recipe is from Cupcake Jemma's YouTube channel where she showcases some seriously incredible cakes as well as sharing some handy baking tips. If you've seen the double rainbow cake I made last time you'll know it was covered with rainbow stripes on the outside as well as the inside. This time however I decided not to add food colouring to the buttercream, but instead left it white and dusted the top with colourful crumbs. I am incredibly happy with how it turned out as I think it has a bit more elegance to it and makes the sponges on the inside pop a bit more when it's cut open.

Having had the experience of making the Double Rainbow Cake already, I was more confident this time around. I was able to achieve better colours and a smoother finish around the outside of my cake. As I mentioned last time, I haven't had much experience using a cake scrapper or leveller so I was happy to see an improvement during my second time using them.

Cake Ingredients:

9 tbsp – Whole Milk

1 ½ tsp – Vanilla Extract

6 different food colourings

750g – Unsalted Butter

750g – Caster Sugar

9 – Large Eggs

750g – Self-raising Flour

Buttercream Ingredients:

400g – Unsalted Butter

900g – Icing Sugar

6 tbsp – Whole Milk

1 tsp – Vanilla Extract

• Into a measuring jug measure out 9 tablespoons of whole milk and 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract, you will then need to divide this mixture by 6 (which is 1 ½ tablespoons) and pour it evenly into 6 mixing bowls. Once you have picked the 6 different colours you would like to apply to your sponges, add the food colouring to the 6 portions of milk and stir well using a mini whisk or a metal spoon.
• Add 750g of unsalted butter (room temperature) to a stand mixer and mix until lighter in colour, thick and creamy. Then add the caster sugar and mix on a high speed until light and fluffy.
• Crack 9 eggs into a small mixing bowl and lightly whisk (similarly to how you would if you were preparing an omelette or scrambled eggs). Whilst your stand mixture is set on a low speed gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar. Once all of the eggs have been added,  set your mixer to a medium/high speed for approximately 2 minutes.
• Sift your flour into the stand mixer and gradually mix on a low speed until all the flour has been added and fully incorporated.
• Divide the cake batter evenly into the 6 mixing bowls that contain the milk and food colouring that you prepared earlier. Using a metal spoon carefully fold the coloured milk into the cake batter.
• Now that you have 6 differently coloured portions of cake batter place each one into a lined and greased 8 inch baking tin and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until a cocktail stick comes out clean. I only had two baking tins so I did this step 3 times, so don't worry if you also only have two tins, it is still do-able, it just takes a little bit longer.
• Once all of the cakes have fully cooked and cooled you can now trim your cakes to ensure each layer is the same thickness and size. To do this, I used a cake leveller to slice off the very top of each cake. I then placed a 7 inch cake board onto the top of each layer and used a knife to trim around the circumference of each of the coloured sponges. This will create a smooth surface area for when you are applying your buttercream. 
• It's now time to make the buttercream, to do this you will need to mix all of the unsalted butter in your stand mixer until pale and fluffy (this should take about 5 minutes), then add sifted icing sugar in two stages, mixing between each stage until fully incorporated.
• Gradually add the milk and vanilla extract into the stand mixer whilst it is on a low speed, once all of the milk has been added you can beat the mixture at a high speed for a further 2 minutes.
• Place your first layer onto a cake turntable and apply an even layer of buttercream onto the top, repeat this process for all 6 layers before applying a crumb coat to the outside and top of your cake. To apply a crumb coat use a small amount of butter cream to completely cover your stacked layers (I used a pallet knife to do this).
• Place the cake in the fridge for about an hour, this allows the crumb coat to harden and to securely lock in all of the crumbly bits.
• When the crumb coat has hardened you can apply the rest of the buttercream using the same method but creating a thicker layer this time before smoothing the sides with a cake scrapper.
• You will now need to smooth down the top of your cake use a pallet knife as best you can to wipe away any excess buttercream and to flatten the top.
• Lastly, using the cut offs from trimming your cakes earlier crumble some colourful crumbs round the outside rim of the top of your cake.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my most recent baking experience and that it has inspired you to give this recipe a try. It definitely has the wow factor and you might even land yourself a Paul Hollywood style handshake from your family and friends, it is Bake Off season after all.

Blackpool Attractions Worth Visiting

I recently enjoyed a three night stay in Blackpool, a seaside town that in my opinion is extremely underrated, there are so many places to visit and activities to take part in that it actually became a struggle to fit them all in. I don't think Blackpool has the greatest reputation but I've had nothing but good experiences and have made a ton of memories that will last a lifetime. This was my second overnight stay, the first being in 2015 after finishing university. It was mine and my boyfriend's first mini holiday we had taken together and because we had such a good time the first time around we were dying to go back to do it all over again. This time we stayed in a Travel Lodge right next to the Pleasure Beach, meaning we could see the theme park, water park and beach from our window and didn't have to walk very far for a great day out. Having said that though it is quite a long walk from the south pier to the north pier, one end has the Pleasure Beach and the other has the Blackpool Tower so it is highly likely you'll be doing this walk at least once during your stay. I think we actually walked it multiple times a day as we wanted to visit the arcades quite a lot.

Although I wasn't able to do everything I would have liked, such as the Horror Crypt and Dino Mini Golf, we did visit a big chunk of the attractions. I thought I would write a list detailing a few of my favourite places and my recommendations.

Blackpool Tower Dungeon

The Blackpool Tower Dungeon isn't to be missed if you're planning a trip to Blackpool any time soon. It's an incredibly fun experience that lasts for about an hour. You walk through a series of rooms where fully costumed actors comedically tell scary and historical stories to make you laugh and maybe even jump a little bit from time to time too. The actors are amazing at what they do, they'll involve you in the 'act' whilst also making you feel completely at ease, which as a quiet and reserved person made me thoroughly enjoy my experience. I enjoyed it so much that I even bought the optional photos at the end, which I don't normally do.

Pleasure Beach

The Pleasure Beach is one of my favourite theme parks in the UK, it has a really good mixture of rides, including Valhalla, one of the best water rides I have ever experienced. Whilst I was there I also got the opportunity to ride Icon, their newest roller coaster for the first time which was actually extremely fun and one of the best roller coasters I've ever been on in terms of feeling safe and secure.  Also worth mentioning is that the park was pretty much empty during the time I visited. I would highly recommend planning a visit for the beginning of June as we didn't have to queue at all and went on all of the rides multiple times. We also had plenty of time to sit down and eat some amazing chocolate crepes and hot dogs as well as visiting all of the on-site arcades.

Sandcastle Water Park

I'd never been to Sandcastle Water Park before so this was a brand new experience during my most recent visit to Blackpool. I didn't know what to expect but it looked so incredible on their website that my boyfriend and I were dying to give it a go. Last year during a holiday to Tenerife we were fortunate enough to visit Siam Park, one of the world's best water parks, and since then have both been craving another water park experience. Obviously Sandcastle Water Park in Blackpool is nothing like Siam Park in Tenerife but we were both really excited to give it a go and to see what it had to offer.

One of the most unique and unexpected things was that you can actually hire a swimming costume. As we didn't originally set out to visit the water park and I struggled to find a decent swim suit in town I ended up taking full advantage of this option and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. It cost £3.50 with a £5 deposit to hire a suit for the whole day which I think is amazing value for money, especially if you don't want to panic buy a brand new suit that you don't necessarily feel that great in. It's definitely a service I wouldn't hesitate to use again if I ever needed to. The park itself was also amazing, the main pool is a decent size with a little lazy river, there is also a deeper pool with a wave machine and there are a ton of amazing slides dotted around the building too, some of which went unexpectedly fast. If you're interested in going I'd recommend checking out their website as it's quite detailed and includes a map of the indoor park.

Pasaje del Terror

This is a truly amazing and terrifying experience that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves horror films and who doesn't mind being scared half to death. They describe it as an 'interactive walk-through horror attraction', so basically you willingly walk through a series of dark rooms and corridors whilst actors dressed as horror film villains, such as, Michael Myers, Freddy Krugar and Jason Voorhees jump out, follow and terrify you as you run and scream your way to the door at the other side. It's extremely hard to explain or say anything more about as it's a completely unique experience unlike anything I've experienced before. Although it's only actors and none of it is real, they do an incredibly good job at making you forget that, so much so that it feels incredibly real and will at times actually make your heart pound with fear. Halloween is one of my favourite Horror films and Michael Myers is one of my favourite movie 'bad guys' and during our way through the attraction I felt like I got a sense of what it might feel like to be one of his victims, the actor or actors that play him do an incredibly good job at portraying his character.

Coral Island Arcade

In my opinion Coral Island is the best arcade in Blackpool. As well as it being huge, it's also pirate themed and hosts a pirate themed family pub as well as loads of arcade cabinets, grabber machines and games. There are some games that actually give out a decent amount of tickets too, which often isn't the case in these sorts of places. I got a little bit addicted to a fair ground themed clown game, where you throw a ball to knock down as many lit up clowns as you can to score points and win tickets. It was an incredibly fun and great way to spend the evening after visiting the other local attractions. We're not big drinkers or party animals so this was a great alternative to clubbing without just going back to our hotel.

Blackpool Tower Circus

The Circus is an amazing experience that I have seen twice and loved both times, there was a four year gap between the two performances I saw so it has changed slightly this time around but the stunts and performances were just as brilliant as I had remembered them being. I would highly recommend going to see this, especially if you've purchased the big ticket, as it's one of the only things on in the evenings and one of the best things included. The first time I saw the show I was entering it completely blind, I'd never really been to a circus before so I didn't know what to expect and it completely blew me away, the quality and death defying stunts had me entertained from start to finish and I will definitely being visiting it again in the future.  

I hope you enjoyed reading about some of my favourite places to visit in Blackpool, I would strongly recommend buying the big ticket that includes the Circus, The Blackpool Tower Eye, the Dungeons, the Ballroom, the Sea life Centre and Madame Tussaud's. It's only £46 per person for the six attractions which is incredibly good value for money, especially when you consider how much it would cost if you were to purchase them individually. During our stay we purchased the big ticket as well as buying tickets separately for the Pleasure Beach, Water Park and a few other smaller attractions that I think are vital to the Blackpool experience.

Although I haven't included The Sea Life Centre or Madame Tussaud's on this list they are still great experiences and well worth the small amount they cost as part of the big ticket. If I was to have one complaint though it would be that I would much prefer to see the Queen Victoria pub from Eastenders in Madame Tussaud's rather than The Rovers Return from Coronation Street (but that's just a nit pic from a huge Eastenders fan). 

One last thing worth mentioning is that I would recommend booking  your hotel and activities in advance. We only paid £74 for a three night stay, that together with the big ticket and a few other activities meant that we were able to have an amazing mini break at hardly any cost.

Thanks for reading, I hope I've given you some good recommendations that help you plan any future visits to Blackpool. Be sure to let me know in the comments what your favourite things to do in Blackpool are or if you're planning a trip anytime soon and what you're looking forward to the most.