rainbow cake.

I am very proud of myself. I made a fricking rainbow cake. So epic. One of my closest friends, Mia, turned 15 yesterday. I made the cake and a cute card with silly bands taped in and brought it over to her house. It was a lot of fun. The cake was delicious (white cake batter and chocolate frosting) and 100% homemade. I thought I would include the recipe on here so all you loverly readers can make this fab cake for yourselves. 

(Left) Stacked cake, pre-frosting. (Center) Frosted and decorated. (Right) First slice gone. LOOK AT THE COLORS!

I made basic white cake batter from Epicurious. 

        Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 large egg whites
• 3/4 cup milk

        Supplies

• Two 9-inch round cake pans, buttered and bottoms lined with buttered parchment or wax paper

        Preparation

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, mixing well.
3. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until very soft and light. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Whisk together the egg whites and milk by hand in a medium mixing bowl until just combined.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-quarter of the flour mixture, then one-third of the milk mixture, stopping and scraping down the bowl and beater after each addition. Beat in another quarter of the flour, then another third of the milk mixture. Scrape again. Repeat with another quarter of the flour and the remaining milk mixture; scrape. Finally, beat in the remaining flour mixture.
6. Scrape the bowl well with a large rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the tops.
7. Bake the layers for about 30 to 35 minutes, until they are well risen and firm and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool the layers in the pans on racks for 5 minutes, then unmold onto racks to finish cooling right side up.

Now here's the rainbow-ing details. I got the instructions from Omnomicon but used my own cake and frosting recipes. 

Skip Step 6 of the above recipe and add these in.

Mixing colors. My favorite is the swirly pre-purple. It looks so patriotic.

So bright! I love it!

1. Split the batter into 6 even bowls. Use food coloring gels and mix each color in. A little food coloring goes a long way, and it stains, so be cautious. 
2. Drop half of the red into the middle of the first cake pan. Continue with orange and yellow. 
3. Drop half of the purple into the middle of the second cake pan. Continue with blue and green. (This is so both layers are the same size.)
4. Finish the rainbow in each pan.

Ready to bake!

That's it! Now bake as normal (Step 7) and frost like a normal cake. 

Here was the delish frosting recipe I used. 

        Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar (this means powdered)
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

        Preparation

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

So tasty! I found I needed to add a lot more milk to make it the right consistency, but it tasted so damn good. 

(Left) So gooey and delectable. (Right) Hey, that's me!

Mia was so happy with her cake and it was such a blast to make! I hope everyone enjoys this recipe and if you make one, I'd love to see the pictures!

I wish I could send this slice through the computer to you like the chocolate bar in Willy Wonka, but alas I think we have to wait a few decades for that...

xoxoleah

Comments

[Dad]

That cake looks amazing!! Can you make us one when you get back from New York?

[mia ray]

hey guess what..the person who received this cake absolutely adored it and you
WOOOOOO

[Alissa]

great recipe! thanks a lot i made it for my little sister's birthday and it was amazing! my purple was a bit of a fail thought haha.