October rolls around so fast every year. It's the month of the year which my step-daughter, Felicity, celebrates her birthday and being on a gluten and dairy free diet I spend most of September every year trying to think of a yummy, festive and diet friendly birthday cake to make. This year was no different but I scored (thanks to Pinterest yet again) when I found the idea of a jelly cake!
I needed a jelly mould (I have also seen these cakes done in a bundt tin) and found one at a local kitchenwares store for $15ish and of course jelly.... Areoplane Jelly is gluten free and is loved in our home for treats so I headed straight to the supermarket and grabbed 5 packs: red, yellow, green, blue and purple... yep, a rainbow!
You will need a day that you are at home for a while without too much distraction as it is a little time consuming but oh so worth it for the result.
With my jelly colours, in order of how I wanted the layers to be in the cake, I made up the jelly mixtures and used 150ml
LESS water than the packet asks for -
this will help the jelly set a little stiffer but still have a true jelly 'wobble'. It also then made up the perfect amount to have all the liquid fit into my size jelly mould.
Pour 1/2 of the first colour (red in my case) into a lightly greased jelly mould and put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes (you can use the fridge but it will take longer to set and with so many layers to go will make it a looooong process). You want each layer to be just set but still slightly 'tacky' to touch so the next layer will 'stick' to it.
While the first layer is setting mix a small amount - approx 1 tablespoon - of greek or natural yoghurt (I used a dairy free yoghurt) into the second half of the mixture until combined. Once the first red layer was set to the consistency I needed it I GENTLY poured the red yoghurt/jelly mixture onto the first and put it back in the freezer for another 10-15 minutes.
Continue just like this for each colour until the whole rainbow is done and the jelly mould is full. Then put it in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours or overnight in my case to really set well.
15 mins before serving take it out of the fridge and leave at room temp. When you are ready to serve find a plate large enough to take the cake and place it onto of the mould then flip the whole thing (plate and jelly in the mould). You might need to give it a little gentle wriggle but it should slid straight out of the mould and onto your plate.
Pop in a few sparklers and wow your birthday girl and guests - This 'cake' was a HUGE hit here and I can see it being made many times over... maybe a different colour combo next time??
