How To Make A Rainbow Cake

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You longtime readers are well aware of the fact that my boy was born on St. Patrick's Day.  The child has wholeheartedly embraced the holiday as his own and loves to incorporate as many shamrocks and leprechauns into his celebration as possible.

Since the boy could speak, he has requested a green birthday cake with buttercream frosting.  This year I decided to surprise him with something a little different...  a rainbow cake.  I thought it would fit perfectly with the whole St. Patrick's Day theme, and boy, was it fun and surprisingly easy to make.

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I started off with a batch of basic white cake batter.  I made mine from scratch but you could certainly use a cake mix.  I decided that I didn't want my layers to be too thick, so I used a single recipe.  Evenly divided the batter into six separate bowls.  

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Add dye (I used gel food coloring) to tint the batter into the six colors of the rainbow.  You can make the colors as pale or vibrant as you want. Just make sure the dye is well incorporated.  You don't want any white patches in your cake.

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Pour the batter into prepared cake pans, spreading to ensure that the layers are even.  Because the layers were so thin, I opted to put a round of parchment in the bottom of my cake pan.

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Bake the cakes at 350 degrees for around 10-12 minutes.  Depending on the number of cake pans you have and your oven space, you will need to repeat the process with the remaining batter.  Allow all six cakes to cool completely. 

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Now you are ready to assemble the cake. Place the first layer on your cake stand.  I decided to put the red on top, purple on the bottom.

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Spread a thin layer of frosting, in my case buttercream, over the cake.

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Top with the next layer. 

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Repeat the process until all six layers are assembled.  Isn't it pretty?

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Take a small amount of frosting and give the cake a thin crumb coat.  That way you won't have any crumbs visible in your frosting.  

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Top with a final layer of frosting and then decorate as desired.  It's that easy.

For the record, the cake was a huge hit.  In fact, the boy has adopted the rainbow cake as his official birthday cake going forward.

Next time you need to make a cake, give this a try.  A rainbow cake is sure to brighten any celebration.