1.Knead ready-made icing on surface dusted with a little cornflour until icing loses its stickiness. Divide icing into four equal portions: tint yellow, blue, orange and pink. Wrap separately in plastic wrap.
2.Roll each portion, separately, on cornfloured surface into a 3mm (⅛-inch) thickness. Using cutter, cut out four squares from each coloured icing, place on baking-paper-lined tray to dry, about 3 hours or overnight.
3.To make royal icing, sift icing sugar through a fine sieve. Lightly beat the egg white into a small bowl until mixture is just broken up (do not whip into peaks). Beat in the icing sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches desired consistency. Using a wooden spoon mix in the lemon juice.
4.Divide royal icing evenly into four small bowls, tint using all four colourings. Cover surface of icings with plastic wrap to keep airtight.
5.Using one icing at a time, drop a teaspoon of icing into piping bag. Using corresponding colour, pipe a dot of icing in the corners of the icing squares to anchor stencil in position.
6.Use spatula to spread royal icing thinly but evenly over stencil; scrape away excess icing, gently remove stencil. Wash and dry stencil before using again. Repeat with remaining squares and royal icing. Stand squares about 1 hour or until dry. Carefully remove the anchoring dots from the icing squares after the icing has dried.
7.To make butter cream, beat the butter (and any flavouring if using) in a small bowl with an electric beater until the butter is as white as possible. (This will result in a whiter buttercream which will give you better results if colouring it).
8.Gradually beat in half of the sifted icing sugar, then the milk, then the remaining sifted icing sugar. Beat until the butter cream is smooth and spreadable. Keep scraping down the side of the bowl during beating.
9.Trim top of cake so it will sit flat when upside down. Turn cake upside down, trim sides to make a 20cm (8-inch) square cake. Cut cake into 16 x 5cm (2-inch) squares. Spread butter cream over cake tops; position icing squares on cakes.
10.Place cake squares into paper cases. Secure cakes to board with a little royal icing or butter cream, to stop them sliding off the board.
equipment 5cm (2-inch) square cutter 4 paper piping bags small stencils (see tips) small offset metal spatula 16 plain coloured paper cases 30cm (12-inch) square wooden cake board (page 208) Square paper cases are available in specialty food or kitchen shops, but we found round cases happily change shape to accommodate the square cakes. The stencilled icing squares can be made several weeks ahead; store in an airtight container at room temperature. The cake will become stale within a day of cutting. We used stencils used for dusting cappuccinos; they can be found at many of the larger supermarkets. Pipe a tiny dot of royal icing in two opposing corners of each square of icing to anchor the stencil in place, if necessary. Using a spatula, spread royal icing thinly and as evenly as possible over stencil (only cover the one shape). Scrape away excess icing. Gently and slowly lift the stencil from the icing square. Stand icing 1 hour to dry. Wash and dry stencil before using again.
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