Rainbow Cakes are amazing to look at and contemplate. I really love this cake.
More than a month ago, a sweet friend made a special order for a Rainbow Cake; she was responsible for bringing a cake to her girlfriend’s baby shower. It was a rainbow-themed party – which makes this beautiful cake just perfect!
This cake requires time. Knowing I wanted to bake a second cake – one that I could cut into – meant that baking and constructing took a wee bit more time. The results are worth the time and effort. Because I’ve only made this cake one other time before, I opted to bake two cupcakes of each color – this was a quality control measure to make sure the flavor and color richness was consistent. I was happy with the results.
I follow my Classic Vanilla Cake recipe. Each layer requires 1¾ c. batter, which means one complete recipe will divide out for approximately 3 layers. Use gel food coloring except for the red – most red gels produce a hot pink color. I like to use McCormick’s Red Food Coloring (perfect for Red Velvet cake, too).
Crumb coating the cake is critical – and by this I mean, applying a base layer of frosting to keep the crumbs in. I prefer to get this done the night before the cake is to be enjoyed – frosting and decorating is so much more doable without little bits of cake floating in the buttercream. Hot tip: I make one batch of buttercream at a time instead of whipping all of it up in advance. I believe the icing is mixed best in small batches. For these two cakes, I prepared 9 pounds of buttercream (6 batches).
I have a separate refrigerator for cakes and cupcakes. I had to remove the drawer and two shelves to store both of these beauties over night.
 |
| six-layer 8″ round, Rainbow Cake |
 |
| six-layer 6″ round, Rainbow Cake |
I used the tall skinny, 6″ round cake as a test cake for base and top edge design. I liked this combination. And, I’m still working on perfecting a smooth buttercream exterior.
Both cakes finished! I love the taste and look of the vanilla buttercream. My favorite is the surprise waiting inside!
I made this little banner…
I’m really happy with how this turned out; I hope the party-goers liked it too.
Look at those colors!! I love this so much! I think there’s science in this cake…the bottom layers have been squished more than the upper layers. Weight x layer x buttercream = gravity in my Rainbow Cake, but oh well! And yes, that is a Fiesta Ware dinner plate.
What a fun project! I’ll go ahead and give myself a gold star for the even distribution of buttercream between the layers of cake.
I learned that I love fun and beautiful challenges. There is beauty in the simple buttercream as well as amazement with the colors of the rainbow. Most importantly of all, I like having friends. They enrich my life and that of my family. Friends matter.
What an expression of love for a friend.
Dan – She is a sweet girl, full of excitement and joy. One of those people that’s just good to be around.