Method (Cakes)

1. Preheat your oven to 180℃ fan and line two, 6 inch loose base / push up cake tins with grease-proof paper.
2. In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine.
4. Add the oil and vanilla extract in to the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
6. Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
7. Add the sprinkles into the tins and gently stir in. Don’t over-mix or the colours will bleed.
8. Before the colour starts to bleed into the batter, place the cakes into the centre of the pre-heated oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.
9. Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully. Once cool, remove from the tins then pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.

Method (buttercream)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter, whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
2. Sift in the icing sugar and pour dairy-free milk and vanilla extract, whip on high speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate it.
3. Fold in the sprinkles, being careful not to over mix.
4. Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or cake stand. Dollop or pipe some of the buttercream on top and spread out until even using an off-set spatula or pallet knife.
5. Make a well in the middle of the buttercream and fill with 2 – 3 heaped tablespoons of strawberry jam (optional).
6. Place the second cake layer on top. Press it down gently so it sticks. Coat the whole cake with a thin layer of buttercream. This creates a crumb coat.
7. Place the cake into the the fridge to set for 10-15 minutes.
8. Remove the cake from the fridge and apply a second coat, this time thicker.
9. Transfer any left over buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip nozzle. Pipe a swirl of buttercream around the top edge of the cake.
10. Decorate the cake with more rainbow sprinkles.
11. Slice and enjoy!