Dan Lepard's rainbow cakes

Kirstie posted these on my FB wall ages ago- and I REALLY want to make them as they look brilliant.

I'm putting this here partly because I feel like everyone should see this and partly so that I don't loose the instructions.
I can make a cake- contrary to everyone else's feelings about my culinary skills- but I'm impressed with how these look so I'm going to try and follow these instructions very carefully. Whenever I've made food-coloured cakes before the colours have all smudged together but I'm pretty sure I used liquid dyes not paste.
Perhaps I'll make them for Ray-Ray's birthday in the summer.

They look summery. and like something I could actually make... :D

They remind me of my GCSE food technology project- We had to make a range of products- I chose birthday cakes- I made a celebration cake every week for what felt like a lifetime and when we planned the project in september I thought Halloween cakes would be awesome fun, however, you do look a but mad making orange/purple/black bat themed cakes in february.
Everyone else had a batter grasp of time than I did and made valentines cakes and stuff like that.

I also made Kirstie some black fondant icing bats. to eat in art graphics.
Thats true friendship :P

Anyway, back to cake recipes:

Makes 14

200g unsalted butter, softened
50ml sunflower oil
150g creme fraiche
350g caster sugar
4 tsp vanilla extract
4 medium eggs
475g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
A rainbow of food colouring – paste is best
Flavourings if you like

For the frosting
75g creme fraiche
Icing sugar

1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas mark 4 and line the pockets of a couple of muffin trays with about 14 paper cases.

2 Beat the butter, oil, creme fraiche and sugar until whipped and thick.

3 Beat in the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, until smooth.

4 Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix in evenly, then divide equally into bowls, depending on the number of different colours you have.

5 Beat colours and flavourings into each bowl, but remember that colours bake with more intensity. Dollop smallish spoonfuls into each muffin case until they're about three-quarters full.

6 Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the cake pulls out clean. Remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

7 For the frosting, beat the creme fraiche with enough icing sugar to make a smooth frosting that holds its shape. When the cakes are cold, pipe on a swirl of frosting, or spoon on a dollop, to serve.