These fun and vibrant American bakes by Dana’s Bakery will be the talk of your next birthday party or celebration!

Rainbow black-and-white cookies

MAKES 15

For the cake

300g (10½oz) plain flour ¾ tsp salt 1½ tsp baking powder

180g (6½oz) unsalted butter

300g (10½oz) granulated sugar

2 free-range eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

180ml (6fl oz) buttermilk gel food colourings (6 colours of the rainbow)

For the icing

150g (5½oz) icing sugar

1 tbsp (15ml) light corn syrup (see tip) ¼ tsp clear vanilla extract water or milk, for thinning the icing

25g (1oz) cocoa powder

1 Preheat the oven to 165°C/Gas Mark 3. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2 To make the cake, in a bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 3-5 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Slowly stream in the buttermilk and beat again. Add the flour mixture and beat until just well incorporated.

3 Evenly separate the dough into six bowls. Fold a few drops of gel food colouring into each bowl, adding only one colour per bowl. In batches, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets starting with purple and finishing with red, making sure each cookie has all the colours in it. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Cool on the tins for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the cookies and place them on a wire rack to finish cooling.