Rainbow Cake

When I saw this recipe on the Martha Stewart show, I started following Whisk Kid's blog.  She does amazing layered cakes.  The idea that you can make a cake (and keep it secret what is inside), sounded fun.  So I decided to do this for Marcus.  He is having a party on Saturday, where I have to make a Phineas and Ferb cake, but since his actual birthday was Wednesday and Grandma, Papa and Gram were coming over we HAD to have a cake, right?  (I made cupcakes for the class, rainbow cake for the family, and one more to go!  Hopefully the last cake will go as smoothly.)

Here is the link to the recipe:   http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/rainbow-cake

It looks like a normal cake, right?  Nobody knew what was waiting inside (except for my husband who almost gave it away).  Note to self, don't let him see it next time.

Here is the birthday boy, Marcus.  He is 6 and so excited for his cake.  When we asked him if he felt older today he kept replying, "I haven't had the cake yet."  Like some special ingredient in the cake ages him.  So cute.

 

He could not believe the colors inside of his cake.  He loved it.  He said it was nice that I put my favorite color (purple) next to his (blue).  He is so sweet.  Of course we served it with ice cream.

The recipe is pretty easy.  You make a white cake and separate it into six bowls.  Add food coloring and whisk until you get the color you want.  Bake cakes for 15 minutes in buttered cake pans (I also used parchment paper since it makes it easy to get the cakes out).

Allow them to cool.  Never frost cakes when they are still warm or you will wind up with a crumbly mess.

Make the meringue buttercream frosting and add between each layer.  The recipe actually had more frosting to add on top, but I didn't make the second recipe.  This was plenty.  I didn't want it to be all frosting and no cake.  I like to taste the cake!

Here is what it looked like all stacked up.

I love how this cake stacks up.

Coat the entire cake with a thin layer of the frosting.  This is the crumb layer.  Don't worry if you see crumbs and such.  This is just to get a coating on the cake that you will chill and it will make it easier to frost later.  Chill for 15-30 minutes.

Frosted cake...finished product.