Rainbow cupcakes

Ingredients

Rich chocolate cupcakes

250g butter, chopped

200g dark chocolate, chopped

2 cups caster sugar

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

3/4 cup plain flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Icing

125g butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture, sifted

1 tablespoon milk

3 x 500g packets Orchard white icing (fondant)

Blue, pink, red, yellow, orange, purple and green gel food colourings

Cornflour, for dusting

Method

Make rich chocolate cupcakes: Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Line two 12-hole, 1/3-cup capacity muffin pans with paper cases.

Place butter, 1 1/2 cups cold water, chocolate and caster sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until melted. Stand for 10 minutes to cool.

Sift flours and cocoa into a large bowl. Gradually pour in cooled chocolate mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until mixture is combined and smooth. Add egg and stir until combined.

Spoon mixture into prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of 1 cake comes out clean. Stand in pans for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Make icing: Using an electric mixer, beat butter and vanilla until pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add icing sugar and milk in batches, beating well between additions. Tint frosting pale blue. Spread frosting over top of cupcakes, smoothing the top.

Dust a flat surface with cornflour. Knead 750g white icing until smooth. Tint pale blue. Knead until combined. Wrap in plastic wrap until needed. Divide remaining 750g white icing into 7 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap. Tint 1 icing ball pink. Knead until combined. Repeat with remaining icing and food colourings, leaving one ball white. Wrap in plastic wrap.Dust flat surface with cornflour. Roll out pale blue icing to about 3mm-thick. Using an 8.5cm round cutter, cut rounds from icing. Re-roll icing to make a total of 24 rounds. Reserve trimmings. Position 1 icing round on top of 1 iced cupcake. Repeat with remaining icing rounds and cupcakes. Tint leftover trimmings of pale blue icing a darker blue.

Dust flat surface with cornflour. Roll 5g (3/4 teaspoon) of each icing (except white) into a 15cm long log about 4mm to 5mm thick (see note). Place each log on flat surface side by side to form a straight rainbow. Bend to form a rainbow shape. Trim ends to neaten the rainbow. Using a small paintbrush with a little cold water, brush the top of 1 cupcake. Carefully lift rainbow onto cake to secure. Repeat with remaining coloured icing and cupcakes.

Roll remaining white icing into 72 x 3mm round balls. Place 3 balls side by side on flat surface. Press balls to form a cloud. Position cloud on 1 cupcake and secure with a little water. Repeat with remaining balls and cupcakes. Brush cakes with paintbrush to clean rainbows of excess cornflour. Serve.