Unsalted butter – 226 gms (1 cup), at room temperature
Granulated white sugar – 320 gms (1 & ⅔ cup)
Large eggs – 4, at room temperature
Pure vanilla extract – 2 tsp
Milk – 240 ml (1 cup), at room temperature
Orange/saffron liquid food color – 1 tsp
Dark green liquid food color – 1 tsp
Whipping cream to cover
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F) with rack in center of oven.
Butter or spray with a non-stick vegetable spray, three 9 inch x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) cake pans. Then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper and then spray the paper.
In a bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
With a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft and creamy for about 1-2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy for about 3-5 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture (in three additions) and milk (in two additions), beginning and ending with the flour.
Evenly divide the batter between the three prepared pans. Add the orange/saffron liquid color to one pan and whisk to blend the color all over homogeneously. The liquid color tends to stick to one place; you have to give little effort to mix it thoroughly.
Add dark green liquid color to another pan and mix similarly. Leave the third pan as it is. Smooth the tops of the batters with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.
Since I have a small oven, I had baked each cake separately. Bake each cake for 27 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in center. You can bake all the cakes together if you have a big oven; the time to bake will be more or less same. Keep checking after every 10 minutes!
Place the cakes on a wire rack to cool, in their pans, for about 10 minutes.
Then invert the cakes onto a plate. Remove the parchment or wax paper and re-invert cakes so that tops are right side up. Cool completely before frosting.
Meanwhile prepare the frosting [I used simple whipped cream to cover the cakes and also applied the same between the layers.]. Whip the double cream until soft peaks form and the volume increased four times. Keep it in the fridge to chill so that it’s easy to spread over the cake.
Once the cakes are completely cooled, prepare for frosting. The top of each cake should be perfectly plain. If the top has become dome shapes (which is quite normal), cut it off and make a perfect plain for the cake to hold the frosting.
If you have a turn-table, place the green cake first on the turn-table. Apply a thick layer of whipped cream all over. Now place the un-colored i.e. white cake over the green. Re-apply the layer of cream. Finally place the saffron cake. Now apply the cream over the top and also on the sides and using a spatula cover the cake all over. Smooth the edges and you are done!
Sprinkle some colored sugar balls or chocolate vermicelli or some other decorative sprinklers of your choice! Enjoy!
Recipe by Flavor Quotient at http://www.flavorquotient.com/2014/08/independence-day-tri-color-cake/