How to Make Rainbow Cake

I've been so lucky to have such lovely comments about the rainbow cake I made for Miss Friday's birthday. I confess, I found the inspiration one night while blog-hopping, though I changed the recipe to suit my tastes. I don't remember, unfortunately, which blog I found it on, but the original recipe called for a mix.

We don't do mixes here.

Not that there is anything wrong with mixes.

But Miss Friday will only eat baked goodies made from scratch. Period.

So, Lizzi and Emma, and all you other lovelies who asked for the 'secret,' here it is:

Sarah's Rainbow Cake

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 large eggs
• Gel food colouring in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add the milk and mix until completely blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt with a fork. Add to the wet ingredients. Mix until well blended.

Divide the batter equally between 6 small bowls. Add one colour of gel food colouring to each bowl. Mix well.

In one cake pan, pour in the batter in this order: yellow, orange, and red. This will be the top layer of the cake. In the other pan, add the batter in this order: green, blue, and purple. This will be the bottom layer.

Bake the cake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove the pans from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes on a cooling rack. When the pans are just warm to the touch (i.e. you can pick it up without burning your fingers!), turn the cakes out of the pans onto the racks. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
3 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1-3 tbsp milk
*Optional: pink gel food colouring

In a mixer, combine butter with 1 cup of icing sugar. Mix well. Add the vanilla and 1 tbsp of milk. Mix. Gradually add the remaining icing sugar, alternating with the milk, until you get a smooth, creamy frosting. At this point, add a small squirt of the gel food colouring (a little goes a long way) to make the icing pink. Mix until colour is completely blended.

When your cakes are cool, take the layer that has the purple on top and flip it over. Put it on your cake plate so the green is now on top. Add a good dollop of frosting and spread it evenly. Add the second layer on top, red side up. Now your cake follows the colours of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Finish frosting the cake as normal. Add rainbow sprinkles for fun. Watch your friends be amazed when you cut into a seemingly 'normal' cake to reveal the colourful interior. Enjoy!

If you use this recipe, please email me a photo of your cake. I'd love to see it!

*cake recipe adapted from Betty Crocker's Starlight Yellow Cake