Rainbows and Buttercream

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.