Rainbows and Princesses Hurrah!

Words on Wednesday

Welcome to Words on Wednesday for March 30, 2016.

It’s officially 6 months til my birthday. Or, as my kids are fond of saying, my half-birthday. Woot! Do I get a cake?

Speaking of cakes, did you see my recent attempt at a Rainbow Cake on Instagram?

The caption says it all. My youngest requested a rainbow cake and my gut reaction was “no way!” but after thinking about it, I knew I could do it. I’m home by choice so that I can make things like this happen, right? Besides, she’s my baby, my last little one to turn 7. Special considerations need to be taken into account!

I went hunting online for a recipe, which turned out to be tougher than I’d anticipated as I really wanted to make the cake from scratch too – not a mix. Totally trying to embrace the “at home Mom” thing you know! In the end I found an amazing recipe – this cake needs to be made again – sans rainbow – as it was so delicious and moist!

Today I’m sharing it with you. Click here to go to the site where I found the recipe or simply read it below.

Easy Rainbow Cake…From Scratch!

Ingredients
  • 2½ cups white granulated sugar
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Food coloring: red, yellow, blue, green
  • 12 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1½ cups butter, softened (do not melt)
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
  2. Generously grease and flour 6 (9-inch cake pans.) I only had 3 pans so I had to bake in two rounds.
  3. In a large bowl cream together sugar and butter.
  4. Mix in eggs until thoroughly incorporated.
  5. Mix in vanilla extract, buttermilk and heavy cream.
  6. Mix in half of the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  7. When mixture is combined, mix in the rest of the flour.
  8. Divide the batter into six bowls (about 1 cup of batter per bowl)
  9. Add food coloring to each bowl to create a vibrant red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. (see note on how to make colors)
  10. Pour each colored batter into the prepared pans and spread out into an even layer. (layers will be thin)
  11. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until center is set. Do not overbake. Keep a close eye on them as some ovens run hotter and these are thin layers.
  12. Remove from oven and let cakes cool in the pan until pans are warm enough to touch.
  13. Run a spatula around the edges of the pans to loosen the cake and then very carefully remove the cakes from the pans.
  14. Place on a cooling rack and cool completely.
  15. Meanwhile make the cream cheese frosting by creaming together cream cheese and butter.
  16. Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla.
  17. Place the violet layer down first and frost. Followed by the blue layer, green layer, yellow layer, orange layer and finally the red layer. (frost between each layer)
  18. Place a thin coat of the icing on the cake to create a crumb coat. This will make the cake even all around and seal any loose crumbs.
  19. Once the crumb coat is set, finish frosting the cake.
  20. Slice & serve!
  21. (To create more defined layers of frosting between the colors, place the frosted cake in the fridge to allow the cream cheese frosting to firm up before slicing)
Notes
Colors: Be sure to add in enough food coloring to the batter to make the colors very vibrant. To make orange, create a vibrant yellow and then add drops of red until you have orange. To make violet make a vibrant red and add drops of blue.
** My own notes on colouring the batter: – use food colouring gel. I used the standard icing food colouring set that I have had in my cupboard forever. While I was able to achieve the needed colours, they are definitely not the vibrant tones seen in her photos. I lovingly called my cake “the Pastel Rainbow Cake”! Totally acceptable and the birthday Princess loved it but I was going for the vibrant rainbow not a washed out one!
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More photos this week than words! That’s just how it goes I guess. Some weeks I just won’t have a lot to say. 🙂
If you make this cake let me know. Oh, and one last note on slicing. It’s very rich so not too big please! The Birthday Princesses don’t need to leave your party with tummy aches!
Have a great week everyone!

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