The floors:
For the ombre effect, the bases must be baked and colored individually.
It is best to bake the first 2 bases first and then repeat the process.
As the dough is super quick to make, it's not that time-consuming.
1. line the base of 2 baking tins/spring tins of the same size (diameter: 17.5-20 cm) with baking paper.
2 Preheat the oven to 180° top/bottom heat.
Use half the ingredients for the first 2 bases:
3. Sieve 280g flour, 140g sugar and 1 sachet of baking powder into a bowl. Now add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract/paste, 200g sparkling water, 50g sunflower oil and 1 egg and mix just until all the lumps have dissolved.
4. pour half of the dough into another bowl. Now you can color the two doughs with different intensities of food coloring (2 drops, 4 drops, 6 drops
etc.).
5. pour the batter into the two prepared baking tins and bake in the middle of the oven for approx. 22 minutes. It is best to test with a skewer to see if the cake is baked through.
6 Leave the bases to cool for about 20 minutes. Then carefully remove from the mold and repeat "step 1" for the next two cakes.
The buttercream:
7 Beat the softened butter with a pinch of salt in a high-powered food processor for about 5 minutes until it is much lighter and creamier.
8. now pour the sweetened condensed milk into the butter in a thin stream and beat the mixture for a further 5-10 minutes. It will take longer with a hand mixer.
9. place the two middle cake layers (i.e. not the bottom layer and not the "lid") on top of each other and cut a hole in the middle with a knife (this is where the chocolate balls will be placed later).
10. prepare the bottom base and the two middle bases. You do not need the "lid" for this step.
Put some of the buttercream into a piping bag with a perforated nozzle and pipe a ring onto the completely cooled cake bases. To do this, go along the outer edge of the bases and pipe a ring so that the Raffaello strawberry cream cannot run out later. Pipe the inner ring onto the two middle bases too.
11. place the 3 bases in the fridge so that the buttercream rings become hard and stable (approx. 45-60 minutes). In the meantime, prepare the filling.
The Rafaello strawberry filling:
12 Finely chop the strawberries and Raffaellos. Whip the cream with the cream stiffener until stiff. Now mix the mascarpone with the sweetened condensed milk in another bowl and fold in the strawberries and Raffaello. Finally, carefully fold in the cream.
Stacking the cake, filling and crumb layer
13 First fill the bottom layer with the Raffaello strawberry cream. Place the second base on top, straighten it and fill it with the cream as well.
14. place the third base on top, straighten and fill with the cream. The "cavity" for the chocolate balls has now formed.
15 Before the "lid" is put on, the "cave" must now be coated with buttercream. Then you can fill it with the balls.
16 Now the "lid" can be put on. Straighten the cake again on all sides. Now apply a thin layer of buttercream all around and on top of the "lid" and smooth it out. This thin layer serves to bind the crumbs.
17 Now chill the cake for at least 30 minutes. In the meantime, color the buttercream.
18. divide the remaining buttercream into 2 bowls and color with food coloring.
19 After the cooling time, the cake can be removed from the fridge and coated all over with the colored buttercream. Use a cake scraper to smooth out the buttercream.
20. the remaining buttercream can now be placed in a piping bag and dots etc. can be piped on as desired.
21 Now the cake can be decorated with sprinkles to your heart's content. :)
