How to make a Rainbow Cake

Rainbow cakes and variants on them are currently all the rage. Although they are only for special occasions, it is easy to see why they are so popular when you cut one open and see little ones eyes light up (and adults eyes too!). They aren’t difficult to make but can be time consuming. Allow several hours to bake the cakes and then another hour or so to do the frosting.

I used the Rainbow Cake recipe from taste.com.au as a guide (although I did use a different frosting recipe which I will tell you about in a moment). It worked very well and dividing it into three portions it created three good sized cakes.

For the first time ever making a Rainbow Cake, it turned out really well, and visually stunning (even if it is not as perfect at the taste.com.au picture)

What you will need:

Equipment in addition to mixer etc:

• Cake Board
• Wilton (or similar) Icing Colours – These are a like a jelly paste and vivid and strong in colour and help to not make the cake runny
• Cakes tins x 3. I have found the sponge cake tins that are teflon and available from the Supermarket for between $3 -$5 to be really good. Inexpensive and not deep, perfect for the layers.

You can use 2 x Cake Mixes but Homemade Buttercake is just too good! and easy!

Homemade Buttercake

You will need:

• 125g butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 Wilton Icing Colours in desired colours  (There are actually 7 colours in a Rainbow but 6 colours means you only need to use the 3 pans twice) Rainbow Colours are – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.

What you need to do:

1. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

3. Stir in flour and milk until combined.

4. Divide cake mix fairly evenly into 3 bowls and colour each one separately.

5. Line bottom of cake tins with baking paper and pour a coloured cake into each tin.

6. Place into a moderate oven and cook cakes until they start to go golden on top or cooked in the centre.

7. Allow to cook for a couple of minutes in the pan and then allow them to completely cool on wire rack.

8. Repeat again for last 3 colours.

What makes a Rainbow Cake really stand out is because of the frosting. The white frosting makes the colours pop!

However, I don’t like being left with lots of egg yokes so I use a variant on the Fluffy meringue frosting that I picked up from the gorgeous and OMG talented Dani B! Thanks again to the Martha Stewart show for helping me discover her. If you want to see her fabulous work, you must check out her website!

How to make Royal Icing or Fluffy Meringue Icing…

What you will need in addition  to mixer etc:

• 2 or 3 Pavlova Magic Eggs
• Water
• Confectioners Sugar (Pure Icing Sugar)

What you need to do:

1. Mix 1/4 of a cup of the pavlova magic powder with 1/2 cup of water and whisk until it is fluffy and forms large peaks

2. Add in roughly 600g of Pure Icing Sugar gradually (amount will vary with how thick you want the frosting to be) and beat until smooth and stiff. If it is to runny add more pure icing sugar. It need to be thick enough to not drip down the sides (although if you are in QLD like me and it is hot, no matter how thick it will still slight droop slightly, I have never found away around this on days that are 30+)

Creating your Rainbow Cake….

1. Starting with your first cake layer, place it on the cake board and put a fairly thin layer of frosting on top. (I don’t put a thick layer only because the frosting is so sweet and I don’t want the kids to be on to much of a sugar high)

2. Add the next layer in the rainbow next and add frosting and repeat with next layer. Continue until all layers are together.

3. Cover the entire cake in frosting so it is all white.

4. Leave plain or decorate with hundreds &  thousands or with a rainbow of jelly beans, anything you like!

5. Enjoy the excited faces of the kids (and adults) when you cut into your beautiful Rainbow Cake! A thin slice is more than enough too

Have you made a Rainbow Cake before?

What colours did you use? 

Tagged as: Easy, how to, How to make a Rainbow Cake, How to make royal icing, Rainbow Cake