1.Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Grease cake pans, line base with baking paper.
2.Make one cake mix according to packet directions. Tint mixture with yellow colouring, spread into pan, bake cake about 30 minutes. Stand cake in pan 5 minutes, turn top-side up onto wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining cake mixes and pink, mauve and green colouring. Trim cakes level, if necessary.
3.Secure one cake to board with a little ganache, top with remaining cakes using about ½ cup of the ganache between each layer. Spread cake evenly all over with remaining ganache.
4.Knead 600g ready-made icing on surface dusted with a little cornflour until icing loses its stickiness. Roll icing on cornfloured surface until large enough to cover cake. Using rolling pin, lift the icing onto cake, smooth with hands then smoothing tools. Trim icing neatly around base of cake.
5.Knead remaining icing on surface dusted with cornflour until smooth. Divide into 4 equal portions, colour pale pink, green, mauve and yellow. Keep each enclosed in plastic wrap while not using. Roll one colour out to 1mm ( ¹/32-inch) thick. Using cutters, cut rounds from icing, re-rolling icing as necessary. Repeat with remaining icings. Brush backs of dots sparingly with water, position dots on cake. Cut some dots in half to decorate around bottom of cake. Dry cake overnight.
Equipment 25cm (10-inch) round cake pans 35cm (14-inch) round wooden cake board Smoothing tools 2cm (¾-inch), 1.5cm (¾-inch) and 1cm (½-inch) round cutters fine artist’s paint brush We used the end of a 1cm piping tube to cut out the smallest dots. What a fun cake this is to have at a party - a riot of colour on the inside and polka dots on the outside. The dots will also hide any imperfections on the icing, so it’s a great first-time cake. Using all 3 cutters, cut out rounds from all 4 colours of icing. Keep the icings you’re not using airtight by wrapping in plastic wrap. Brush backs of dots lightly with water and randomly position on cake. Don’t use too much water or the dots will slip and slide off. Position half-dots around base of the cake. Position the dots before they dry so they will more readily take on the contour of the cake. We decided to use packet cake mixes just for fun the cake will keep and cut well and has a fine texture. If you want to make your own cake from scratch, we suggest the deep 25cm round butter cake recipe on page 190. One quantity of this recipe will be equivalent in volume to one packet of cake mix.
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