Friday, February 18, 2011

Rainbow Layer Cake Recipe



Hi All!

I usually don't blog recipes here on Pinks & Needles but I wanted to share it with all of my friends so here it is. First off I should say it's a very easy cake to make but it is very tall and does require a bit of skewering! It was my 41st birthday yesterday and I have been dying to make a rainbow cake for some time so I thought it would be a good excuse to do it!
All I did was make a double batch of a Duncan Hines White Cake Mix and followed the directions on the box. I happened to have (5) 9-inch cake pans so I thought that would save time in the oven since I could bake 4 at once. I think I would've preferred to use 8 inch pans just because the height of the cake would be even taller than what mine turned out like and baby let me tell ya this is one tall cake! It really makes quite a statement sitting on a cake pedestal for sure.
Anyway I used 6 good size cereal bowls and divided the batter as evenly as I could like this:
 Then I added food coloring to each and mixed them up pretty good so the batter color was nice and even like this:
Then I poured them each into my 9 inch cake pans (prepared with Baker's Joy cooking spray) and baked them for about 20 minutes on 325 because my pans are darker in color. Use your best judgment when deciding how long to bake them for since all ovens are different. They looked so pretty in the pans:
 While the cakes were baking I made a batch of Cook and Serve Vanilla Jell-O pudding which I prefer to instant pudding and let that cool. By then the cakes were done and I cooled them on wire racks. If your cakes bake unevenly now would be a good time to even them out with a nice sharp serrated bread knife so your layers lay nice and flat on top of each other.  I started layering the cakes next, straight onto my white cake pedestal starting with the purple layer first. And then I added some pudding and spread it almost to the edge of the cake. Then I did the blue layer, pudding, green layer, pudding and so on until my red layer was on top! I poked wooden skewers in the cake in about 6 places to keep it steady and then I covered it lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerated it over night. I know it's kind of a "no-no" in the cake world to refrigerate a cake but I did it anyway - I'm such a ruler breaker!
By the next morning the cake was nice and set and ready for frosting. For some odd reason I wasn't feeling the frosting thing so I decided on whipped cream instead! I suggest whipping your own heavy whipping cream and adding a bit of vanilla extract and powdered sugar to taste. I'm sorry if I'm not giving specific amounts but I just wing stuff like this rather than measure. It's all a matter of individual taste.
Since whipped cream doesn't hold for very long I only piped it on individual pieces that were ready to be eaten right away and didn't frost the entire cake with it. Trust me you will not want to put a bunch of whipped cream onto a cake that won't be eaten right away because it will turn into a big soggy mess!
I hope you all enjoy this rainbow cake recipe!
Happy Baking!

Hugs,
Gigi

15 comments:

Resin Angels said...

Happy Birthday!

That is one gorgeous, colourful cake <3

Hazel said...

What a cute cake!!!

Not sure I would have your patience to do all those pretty colours, but it certainly looks gorgeous and I bet it tasted delicious too :)

Hazel x

I used to be Gigi Minor - but now I'm Annie Kight said...

Thank you Sam!!! It sure is colorful that's for sure! It really did brighten my birthday day!

Hello Hazel! As long as you have enough pans it's not too bad ~ it took about 40 minutes total to bake them off!

Heather, TJ, Brock, and Jillian said...

So cool! I'll be sharing this over on my facebook page, Pirates-n-Princesses. Come check it out! :)
Heather

pink and green mama MaryLea said...

Beautiful!! My friend made one (with disposable pie pans) in shades of pink for her 35th birthday last month -- it was adorable but I'm a rainbow girl through and through!!!

Heather, TJ, Brock, and Jillian said...

Amazing! Thanks for the inspiration! I made this for my news segment tonight and I shared you in my blog post.
http://pirates-n-princesses.blogspot.com/2011/03/st-patricks-day-news-segment.html

Come check it out and you can find me on facebook, too, at Pirates-n-Princesses.

Thanks so much!
Heather

Paty said...

Hi Gigi...
your rainbow cake is so lovely... and I really want it to me!!!
it looks so delicious... ;D
brazilian hugs

Deer Little Fawn said...

That looks so fab! Well done! and a very Happy Birthday to you! :)
xBeth

JustForDaisy said...

Looks good! I did one too! :) Have a look at it here
http://justfordaisy.blogspot.com/2011/07/rainbow-layer-cake-my-way.html

Anonymous said...

Hi there! Wow, what a fantastic cake :) Just wondering, is it possible to make a 6 layered cake but heart-shaped? Do you think it is feasible? I think there might be problems with taking the cake out of the pan and retaining its shape.

Can't wait to hear your expert opinion,
Claire

I used to be Gigi Minor - but now I'm Annie Kight said...

thanks everyone : ) to answer a question I do think a heart shaped pan would work just as well. Just remember you will have to secure the layers with kabob sticks : )

Jade said...

Hi! I have been searching for a recipe that doesn't use vanilla icing between the layers- your cake looks so much better!!! But I am in Australia and haven't heard of the instant vanilla jell-o pudding. Is there anything you know of that i could use instead? Thanks xox

I used to be Gigi Minor - but now I'm Annie Kight said...

Hi Jade~ Thanks for your comment : ) Well I think any type of vanilla custard would work. If you email me your regular email let's chat. gigi.minor@gmail.com
I can always send you a few boxes of Jell-o if you would like me too!

Nadiya said...

I love that your cake doesn't have the bright white in between the layers, and being from NZ I'm also curious about the Vanilla Jello... If it works out to the same sort of consistency as custard could I just use store bought custard? The yellow colour of custard didn't seem to impact your rainbow at all..? Also did you use gel or liquid food colouring? Your colours are such gorgeous sorbet tones, no where near as garish as some of the other rainbow cakes I'm seeing! :) Love It, can't wait to MAKE IT!!

Anonymous said...

woow amazing! I think I might try that. happy birthday!!!!