Rainbow Cake



This was my second child's 2nd birthday. So I made a rainbow cake. 5 1/2 hours later (after cutting homemade frosting out of the line-up) it was ready to sit in the fridge and set. It was so worth it, but not something I would make often. You are pretty dog-gone special for me to make it for you. So here's how I did it.

White Cake Recipe:
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 C. sugar
2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 Large egg whites
3/4 C milk
2 tsp vanilla

Beat butter and sugar 5 minutes (make sure it's 5 minutes to have lighter batter)

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.

Combine egg whites, milk, and vanilla.

Add 1/3 mixture to butter and add 1/2 of the milk mix.
Mix thoroughly, then add remaining ingredients together.

-Separate batter into 6 different bowls.
Make each bowl a different color (I used gel food coloring) making red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Add coloring until it's the color you want it. Less for more pastel, more for vivid.

Line 9x9 pans with parchment or waxed paper and pour in one color.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes; or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
Let cool on rack before setting up to frost.

Start with last two colors (in this one it's purple, then blue). Place one on serving plate, frost the top part, set blue on top and frost the top as well. Refrigerate 2 hours (or 15 minutes if you plan to serve the cake the following day).

After baking the next two colors, place green on top of blue, frost top, then add yellow. Refrigerate 2 hours (again, if serving the following day, just let it set 15 minutes in the fridge). Continue with the orange and red as well.

After the frosting has set between orange and red, you can frost the entire cake. It actually seems like far more frosting than it is. I used two whole cans of frosting, but I think one more might have been better. It's NOT a low fat/calorie cake!!

After letting the entire cake set for at least 2-3 hours (preferrably overnight), you are ready for some wow-ing!

How fun is that?!! Now, it's a 9x9x9 cake, so you can use less batter if you'd like. I cut the pieces in half and did 1/4" thick slices and that was still too much! It will last for a lot of guests though! Have fun with it. It's worth the time once in a while. The reaction is worth the 5+ hours of work.

 

Ok, looking back at this 9 months later...I won't be making this again, not this way, and definitely not that size! If I had a half sheet cake pan, I'd do it this way, and for a LARGE group. This is a TON of work for only a few people. And it's a LOT of cake. I'm pretty sure it's why we all hate cake now :)