Bake This (Forbidden!) Purple Rain Cake by Prince

London-based pastry chef Cat Food has created a wonderful baking book, with cakes inspired by Prince’s music. Naturally, there’s a Purple Rain Cake, but Cat also came up with a Little Red Velvet cake, for example. Prince’s family hasn’t given their approval yet, and if you know how they handle the creative legacy of His Royal Badness then you know: this book will soon be banned.

Cat’s bakery is known for cakes piled high with sweets and candy, and the adorable cupcakes in a cup. All in exuberant colors, so it’s no surprise that Cat feels drawn to Prince’s music and creativity, or The Artist Formerly Known, or The Symbol, or…

Most Beautiful Swirl in the World

Cat makes a Little Red Velvet cake, a Most Beautiful Swirl in the World brownie or a Starfish and Coffee Cake – with sea-themed sweets, naturally. And the recipes in the book aren’t intended for advanced bakers; beginners can make something beautiful with them too. Like this Purple Rain Cake, for which Cat has already revealed the recipe.

Underground

The Nelson estate hasn’t given permission for the cookbook yet, which was supposed to be released on the anniversary of Prince’s death. And everyone who follows the developments surrounding the mysterious Vault and the successive biographies about the musical prodigy knows: the heirs aren’t exactly generous with that. This means the book will probably be banned, and that clandestine character fits very well with the sweet sin Prince preferred to sing about. So: turn on Spotify, buy (lots of!) purple food coloring and get baking, you sexy M.F.!

How to Make the Purple Rain Cake

• Grease four round cake tins and line the bottoms with baking paper.
• Beat 750 grams of butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract.
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating on a lower speed to prevent curdling. You can add a little flour to prevent the batter from curdling.
• Add the self-raising flour and beat together for 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl clean and beat for another 1minute. Then add the milk little by little.
• Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
• Now put 450 grams of cake batter into the first cake tin.
• Add ¼ teaspoon of food coloring to the batter and beat gently. Put 450 grams of the light-purple cake batter into the second cake tin.
• Repeat until you have filled four cake tins with batter. Each cake should be slightly more purple than the previous one.
• Bake the cakes in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until done.
• Now for the decoration: beat the softened butter until it has become very soft, light and fluffy. Don’t rush, because this step is essential for making the perfect buttercream.
• Add the powdered sugar little by little, until it has been completely incorporated and the cream is firm yet fluffy. Don’t rush!
• Add the violet syrup. If you don’t have any, you can add some vanilla extract.
• Make sure the cooled cakes are completely level. You can trim the tops flat with a knife. Then place the darkest layer on your cake board. Put four tablespoons of frosting on the cake and spread it as evenly as possible. Continue until the top layer is on the cake. Place that top layer, which contains no food coloring, upside down on the cake: the bottoms of the cakes are flatter than the tops.
• Now cover the cake with frosting. This works best if you have a turntable and a metal or plastic scraper.
• Put the cake in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes or in the refrigerator for 30 to 40 minutes. This will make the butter frosting slightly firmer.
• Put 6 tablespoons of the white batter in a separate bowl and mix in some purple food coloring. Spread that frosting on the bottom of the cake. Cover the rest of the cake with the white frosting. Now use a frosting knife or scraper to blend the colored frosting and the white frosting together, creating a beautiful color transition.
• The purple top of the cake is made with white chocolate. Melt the white chocolate and heavy cream in a saucepan, then add purple food coloring. Stir vigorously, because white chocolate burns quickly! Before drizzling the chocolate over the cake, use your frosting knife to let it drip over the edge.
• Let the cake cool before adding the rest of the decorations: glitter candies, flowers, sweets, silver-colored stars: go wild!

Read also:

• With this viral hack, you’ll cut the perfect slice of cake every time
• 13 cakes for the colleague you’re glad to see leave
• These cakes are complete disasters

Recipe and photos: Cat Food