Hey cake friends! I know St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, and now is usually the time when rainbows start popping up everywhere to celebrate. Any excuse to make something green or rainbow colored, and we’re all in, right?

I think one of our favorite ways to celebrate the holiday is with a cake bursting with color. I know the typical rainbow follows the typical red, orange, green, blue, purple, etc… but I wanted to do something a little different. Adding in a touch of pink after red and before yellow gave this cake a little something unique.

But wait… isn’t it hard to get 6 different colors? NOT AT ALL! It’s actually super easy to create this cake, and I’m going to walk you through the process step-by-step.

First of all, you’re going to need a killer white cake recipe. My WHITE CAKE is to-die for, and is sure fire to bake up beautifully every time! So, needless to say, the first step is to whip up one recipe of my white cake.

Next, you’re going to need 6 different bowls (you can use tupperware, regular kitchen bowls, stirring bowls, etc). Divide your batter evenly between the different bowls. I sometimes use a large cookie scoop to make this process a little easier. A few scoops per bowl usually does it.

Next, prep your cake rounds. My recipes work well for 6″ rounds or 8″ rounds. This specific cake is a tall 6″ round cake. Normally I do 3 rounds, but for this recipe, and it’s 6 layers, we’re going for 6 cake rounds. I usually prep my cake rounds with a wipe of shortening and a dust of flour. Having your rounds ready to go will make the process much easier.

After your cake pans have been prepped, add in a touch of food gel paste to each bowl. I chose red, pink, yellow, green, blue, and purple. TIP: add in a TINY bit of coloring. You don’t want your cake layers to be too bold, but you still want the color to actually show up after baking (color tends to bake out). So add a little, gently stir, and see if you’d like to add more color. Don’t overmix, or else your batter will not bake up beautifully. Gently stir, and you should be all ready to go. I tend to use plastic spoons and tupperware (less silverware dishes afterwards).

Bake your cake rounds for LESS time than you would normally. Like I said, I usually do 3 rounds, so baking time is around 25ish minutes. Splitting the batter between 6 different pans makes for thin layers, and in doing so, makes for a less baking time. Mine were finished in under 15 minutes. So set your ovens for 11ish, and then stand by to watch them until they’re done. You don’t want dry cake layers, and over-baking is a huge cause for that.

Next, I flip my cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely, then for easier decorating, I wrap my cake layers gently in plastic wrap a couple times and FREEZE overnight. Frosting cakes cold is SUPER helpful in the process.

Now it’s time for you to decide which way you’d like your rainbow to go – bottoms up, or top to bottom? It’s totally up to you. I frosted my cakes with my Vanilla Buttercream between the layers to really make the colors pop on their own. I love the simplicity, and how everything looked with each slice. If you see your cake getting too tall for comfort, use a dowel down the middle for stability.

Next, when your cake is finished and frosted, chill the cake before slicing. Chilling makes for neater slices (especially when you have a sharp knife).

And that’s it! Can’t wait to see your darling rainbow cakes. Definitely not just for St.Patrick’s Day, but always a fun one to make around the season, that’s for sure.

xo, Mandy