Sugarflair V. Wilton- The Great Rainbow Cake debate

Hello Lovelies,

Unless you've had your head in the sand you are bound to have noticed the craze for Rainbow Layered Cake taking the kids party circuit by storm.  
Trust me I've tried to keep my head in the sand, the thought of all that unnatural food colouring leaves me cold but it just keeps coming up time and time and time again.  

The question that is so frequently pondered in regards to these Rainbow Layer Cakes is 'which food colour is the best?'  The ponderer is then unwittingly pulled into a polite affray where the only mutually agreed upon answer is 'paste or gel colour' and the rest is loyal Wilton or Sugarflair users trying to tout their preferred product as the Rainbow cake 'IT' brand.

So I got to thinking along the lines of 'If a crocodile and a shark got in a fight who would win...?' Except in this case it was less vicious death fight and more... 'is there any real difference between the two widely available brands?'  

And so I devised a (not very) scientific experiment involving;

A rainbow pack of Wilton Gel colours including; Red Red, Orange, Golden Yellow, Leaf Green, Royal Blue and Violet.

The equivalent Sugarflair colours of Christmas Red, Tangerine/Apricot, Melon, Party Green, Ice Blue and Grape Violet (first points go to Sugarflair for imaginative product naming).

Electronic kitchen scales
3x 6" cake tins
Various kitchen paraphernalia 

And this Rainbow Cake recipe from kerrycooks.com

I doubled the recipe and set about filling 6 cereal bowls with approximately 200g of mix.  To which I added 5g of each Wilton gel food colouring.

The first thing I noticed is that unlike Sugarflair, Wilton colours are all liquid gels which makes them incredibly easy to mix in to the cake batter with a minimum of vigorous stirring which is, as a rule, not so good for cake batter.

Easy peasy.  I lined my cake tins with a round piece of baking parchment and baked them three at a time for 15 minutes, rotated the tins on the oven shelf and then baked for a further 4 minutes.

I repeated the process with the Sugarflair colours.

Unfortunately this was not 'easy peasy' because unlike Wilton, Sugarflair colours have a variable consistency with Christmas Red, Party Green and Tangerine/Apricot in particular coming out of the pot as fairly solid pastes.  I wound up getting the egg beaters in on the action which had the small knock on effect of causing those particular layers to lose a bit of height.  In retrospect I could have made life a little easier by mixing the paste with a dollop of batter and then working it through the rest of the mix but what evs.

I covered my layers in plastic, carefully labelled them (as any good scientist would under laboratory conditions of course) and popped them in the refrigerator while I collapsed in a heap from all the hard work.  Actually aside from the drama with the Wilton pastes it was pretty low effort and by the time I'd finished it just happened to be bedtime.

In the morning I made up the cream cheese icing (a tweak on the standard buttercream that really does make all the difference) and decorated both my cakes in a big hurry as above.

Taste wise there seemed to be no difference though I admit to not being able to bring myself to eat the green, blue or purple layers.  There were no complaints and a pretty good lot of quiet munching once little hands got hold of it.

Allow me now to present my very scientific findings.  Look!!  I even had a control!!!

Red Red v. Christmas Red

Wilton Red Red left, Sugarflair Christmas Red Right

I found the two to be comparable on the redness front.  Wilton had the slight advantage of being easier to work with but both gave good colour pay off and vibrancy.  I'd happily use either to achieve the required result.

Orange v. Tangerine/Apricot

Wilton Orange left, Sugarflair Tangerine/Apricot Right

Im not sure which I prefer here. They are clearly quite different oranges.  Wilton was easier to work with but Sugarflair gave the better colour pay off.  If pushed I think I'd say I prefer the Wilton colour.

Golden Yellow v. Melon

Wilton Golden Yellow Left, Sugarflair Melon Right

Here I have a definate preference for the Sugarflair yellow.  The Wilton yellow was far too close to the orange colour and didn't give enough of a contrast between the two layers.  Melon came out of the pot as a nice runny liquid so there were no issues with getting it mixed in.

Leaf Green v. Party Green

Wilton Leaf Green Left, Sugarflair Party Green Right

Wilton's Leaf green gave great colour pay off and was much darker with 5g of colouring in comparison to Sugarflair's Party Green.  Party Green was another of the chunky pastes that I thoughtlessly glooped onto my batter winding up with gross chunks of pure food colouring in the final cake and a much lighter/brighter green colour.  It's a toss up here- maybe more thoughtful use of Sugarflair or less of the Wilton's would have brought me the 'perfect' green.

Royal Blue v. Ice Blue

Wilton Royal Blue Left, Sugarflair Ice Blue Right

Here it was Sugarflair with Ice Blue by a nose- the colour was ever so slightly brighter and more vibrant.  Ice Blue is one of the more liquid Sugarflair colours so in terms of ease of use the two brands are identical

Violet v. Grape Violet

Wilton Violet left, Sugarflair Grape Violet Right

There is no discernible difference between the two purples with the amounts of colouring used.  They appear to be virtually identical in shade, colour pay off and ease of use.  I'd use either but probably go a little easier on the amount in comparison to the other shades.  The photographs don't massively do the purple justice but it is a deep rich violet.

If I were to take my findings and be epically anal about crafting the perfect Rainbow Layer Cake I would use the following;

Red- Wilton
Orange- Wilton
Yellow- Sugarflair
Green- Wilton (but less)
Blue- Sugarflair
Purple- Sugarflair

Ta Dah!  You are free to make up your own mind but for me the battle of whether Wilton or Sugarflair rules the Rainbow scene has been decided and its A DRAW!!!

Wilton to the Left, Sugarflair to the right.

Happy Rainbow Cake Making everybody!

xx

Hello,

I've had this blog page opened now with the word 'Hello' stamped on the top for days now like that essay page in the back of an English exam you've left until last because you've no idea how to answer.  I guess I ought to have studied a little maybe by reading a blog post or two and taking pointers but I'll be honest- when Im reading another persons blog post, which I do rarely, I'm really just enjoying what they are saying- not breaking it down into my own personal 'how to' guide.

I digress, this is my introduction, my first ever blog post!  I have to set the tone and let you know what Im all about, right?

Well here we go then!  This is my space to explode the happenings of my brain on to the cyber world at large so here are things that happen in my head;

Attachment Parenting- baby wearing, cloth bumming, breastfeeding, co-sleeping and gentle discipline are all things that happen in this house.   I have a small boy child who occupies most of my mental real estate.   Whats left goes to Baking, my ever expanding Vintage repro wardrobe and crafting.  And lets not forget Thomas- my wonderful, generous and long suffering husband of two years.

So stick around and perhaps you'll see something you like.

xx

One Odd Mama Bird