This is a special Recipe. We are excited to be officially part of Virtual Chicago Pride Celebrations. I developed this recipe to be as simple as possible. The recipe is so versatile that you can flavor the buttercream any flavor you want, heck you don't even need to use buttercream, you can fill it with jam, fruits or whatever your heart desires.
Serving Size : about 8 slices.
Ingredients for the sponge cake
Large Eggs 4 each
Sugar 5 ounces
Warm water 2 tbsp
Vanilla Extract 1 tsp
All purpose flour 5 oz
Baking powder 1/4 tsp
Food gel 6 colors
(Red, orange, yellow, blue, green, violet)
Simple Syrup:
Sugar 1 cup
Water 1 cup
For the filling:
See Italian Meringue Buttercream (Make 1 batch and add any flavor)
or you can fill it with anything, jams, mouses, or fruits
Step 1 : Make the simple syrup. In a small pot add the granulated sugar and water bring to a boil and set aside to cool. This is what you will brush the cake with to make it moist and pliable for rolling. Pre heat your oven to 325 F.
Step 2 : In a mixer bowl (or if beating with a hand mixer same technique) Add the sugar and eggs and mix on medium-high for about 6 minutes until thick and fluffy. Right at the last 30 seconds, add the vanilla and water to the egg mixture. Make sure not to deflate it. Then add the flour and baking powder and mix with a spatula. Its ok if the batter is lumpy, we will continue to mix later when we add the coloring. Mix just until everything is wet.
Step 3 : Divide the batter into 6 small bowls and add a few drops of food coloring (I suggest you get good quality gel food colors) into each bowl. One red, one blue and so on. Mix by folding gently just until the color saturates the batter. You'll need a jelly roll pan or a quarter half sheet pan (9 in x 13 in). Cut parchment paper to fit your pan and spray the sides with pan spray. I like to use 6 small piping bags and fill them up with each batter but if you don't have it, you can simply use 6 different spoons and layer the batter one by one on the pan. It takes care and practice but it doesn't have to be perfect. Whether you're using piping bags or a spoon, Decide if you want the stripes to go on an angle or straight. Pipe or spoon in an up and down motion starting from left to right in thick 1- inch lines with Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and purple alternating until you fill the pan. If you prefer diagonal start piping lines on an angle starting from the top left and ending to the bottom right, again using the same color sequence and sizing. When done bake it for about ten minutes.
Step 4 : While the cake bakes, make the Italian buttercream or whatever filling you prefer. Once the cake is done, take it out of the oven and place a sheet of parchment paper on a table and sprinkle some sugar on the parchment, then cool the cake by placing the sheet pan upside down on the sugared parchment paper. You can cool it without that step but you risk you cake slightly deflating.
Step 5 : Once cooled, take the cake out of the pan and remove the parchment paper on the bottom from your cake. You can use the clean parchment you used with sugar for the next step.
Step 6 : Place the cake on the sugared parchment paper with the top baked side up. Sprinkle or brush simple syrup all over the cake. Then spread the buttercream or filling evenly all over the top part. Next slide the cake (long side) to align on your parchments edge. Using the parchment, lift it and start rolling the cake (long side) over taking your time making it tight. Then Place on your serving tray and cut into 8 even pieces. Enjoy!