Es’s Paintball Birthday cake

  Vegan
  Red Velvet

  Vanilla – White and Blue
  Four layers covered with icing
 Figurines and splats

this For later use

DOUBLE VANILLA CAKE
Ingredients
8 oz butter (4 sticks)
2 cup sugar
4 eggs
4 Tbsp vanilla
4 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350F (180C).
Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time, incorporating each before adding the next. Add the vanilla.
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the wet ingredients along with the milk.
Beat everything for a few moments until smooth once again.
I used half of the batter as a white layer and the second half, mixed in 0.64 fluid ounces – 1 bottle of blue coloring.
Prepare two 9-inch round baking pan by lightly greasing them, and then cutting a circle of parchment paper to fit into the bottom.
Divide the batter evenly between two 9-inch cake pans (once you mixed in the blue coloring if you use it).
Bake for 50 minutes. Cool for a few moments than carefully invert the pans removing the cake and let cool.

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
2½ Cups All Purpose Flour
2½ Cups Sugar
1 Cup Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt

Wet Ingredients:
2⅔ Cups Non-Dairy Milk of Choice (I used Almond)
⅔ Cups Light Oil (I used canola)
2 Tablespoons Cider Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350F (180C).
Prepare one 9-inch round baking pan by lightly greasing them, and then cutting a circle of parchment paper to fit into the bottom.
I also made 5 x 3-inch width x 2-inch depth baby vegan cakes – prepare pans the same as the large baking pan.
In a large bowl whisk together all of the dry ingredients, then set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together all of the wet ingredients.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Don’t over mix.
Prepare baking pans by lightly greasing them, and then cutting a circle of parchment paper to fit into the bottom.
Divide the batter into the prepared pans then pop them in the oven.
Bake for about 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

This recipe made one 9-inch cake and 5 single high cakes (see dimensions above) as I needed this for my vegan family members.
I decorated this with vegan chocolate icing (Betty Crocker) and only added sliced organic strawberries as decoration – see picture.

RED VELVET CAKE
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons unsweetened, cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil or canola
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1-2 oz. red food coloring – 0.64 fluid ounces = 1 bottle
1 teaspoon white vinegar
½ cup of prepared plain hot coffee

Directions
Preheat oven to 325F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and vegetable oil.
Mix in the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and red food coloring until combined.
Stir in the coffee and white vinegar.
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients a little at time, mixing after each addition, just until combined.
Prepare one 9-inch round baking pan by lightly greasing them, and then cutting a circle of parchment paper to fit into the bottom.
I also made 1 x 6-inch pan with the extra batter and gave it to a friend as a gift.
Pour the batter evenly into pans.
Bake in the middle rack for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Do not over bake as cake will continue to cook as it cools.
Let pan cool completely and remove the cake from the pans.

Be sure to not overbake! Cakes are really moist and you may need to refrigerate them to firm them up before stacking and frosting.  I left mine overnight as I only did decorations the next day.
To bake cupcakes, bake for 18-20 minutes, checking at around the 18-minute mark.

I baked the above four cakes in two batches, over 2 evenings and kept them covered in sealed plastic bags and did the assembling and decoration the 3rd day.

After all the baking, I cheated and used a box of store bought marshmallow fondant. I took the block and knead it slightly to be more pliable.
Sprinkle the table top with icing sugar, and roll the fondant to desired thickness.

Now the assembly started:
Bottom layer – Vegan chocolate cake
Second layer – Red velvet
Third layer – Vanilla (white) cake
Fourth layer – Blue (vanilla) cake

Use a serving tray/plate/board big and sturdy enough as it’s a very high (4 layers) and heavy cake once done. Spread some icing on the plate and place the first layer on the plate. This will help  and make sure it does not move around and go slip slide around.
Take the second and third layer, place them on top of each other, and use a round ‘template’ to cut out a circle in the middle. I used an approximately 3-inch template to cut the opening in the middle of the cakes.  You can ‘trace’ it on the top layer and then cut with a knife through both layers and remove the inside circle.
Liberally spread icing (I used white vanilla icing on all the layers) the bottom of the second layer (ring) and place on the bottom full layer.
Once done, spread icing on the top of the second layer (first ring) and place the third layer (second ring) on top of the second layer.
Fill the cavity with any candy you prefer. I used multicolored jelly beans and skittles.
I ended up using 2 bags of skittles and 1 bag of jelly beans, but that will depend on the height of the cake and the diameter of the cavity you made.
Once filled, spread the bottom of the fourth/top layer and place on top.

Now that you have all four layers assembled, spread a thin layer of icing all around all four layers.  Try to make it as smooth as possible.
Take the rolled out marshmallow fondant and carefully place it over the entire cake and work it as best you can to get a very smooth surface.

Decorate to your hearts content and as per your theme.
As I had a paintball theme, I printed a paintball figurine and then traced it on the top of the cake and used black icing to ‘paint’ it.
For the paintball splats I did the same and used red and blue coloring to ‘paint’ it.
At the very bottom of the cake, I added some candy to round off the seam at the bottom.
I also piped our grandson’s name and age on opposite sides of the cake.
I thoroughly enjoyed this project, although I do require a lot of extra experience to work with fondant, as it’s my first try and must admit it’s not as smooth as I have seen many others.

NOTE: Make sure that when served at the birthday party and before they cut this monster of a cake, it should be placed on a HUGE tray in order to catch all the candy that will spill out of the cake.

Prepared, tried and tested by: Esme Slabbert‎ – The Recipe Hunter (Cook & Enjoy)