Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Rainbow Bright Birthday

My mom was born exactly one week after me.... ok, well a few years before me, but her birthday is exactly one week after mine, which means we get to celebrate together!

This year our birthdays fell on Tuesdays, so the weekend between was the ideal time for a big family party. We went to planned a big meal, but everyone knows the star of the birthday meal is the cake! Now, I don't really like cake....and my mom really only likes the frosting, but we both love a fancy cooking project, so like it or not, there would be cake!

But not just any cake....oh no- We were taking on a Rainbow Cake! Layer after layer of bright colors, with tons of gooey frosting between them all. I had seen recipes and pictures all over the web, and figured even if it wasn't delicious, it would at least be a fun challenge.

And it actually ended up being pretty simple. We prepared two boxes of white cake, and split them into 6 bowls (about 1 1/4 cup each). Then we used gel food coloring to dye each portion.

My mom and I took care of the batter, while my aunt sprayed all the pans and washed all of our (many) bowls and spatulas. If you're going to take on a cake like this- I highly recommend having a "pit crew"!
We poured each batch into disposable cake pans, and cooked 3 at a time for about 25 minutes. Don't they look pretty already?


When they were done....and cooled...it was time for frosting! Since it was just plain white cake, we wanted to give it a bit more flavor, and decided on lemon frosting. To keep it easy, we used plain vanilla frosting, and just added lemon extract to it. (we did use a ton of frosting- almost three of the tall cans. Just mix the extract in until it tastes good!) Before we layered them up, we cut the rounded tops off to form a level surface. We learned later that it was helpful to flip each layer upside-down, so that the crumbs from the top didn't get in the frosting.

It turned out my mom had taken a few baking and decorating classes, so she was the designated "froster". We went with a fluffy look to cover up any of our mistakes....




All it needed then was a little star birthday garland, and it was time to party!


We had special candles with colored flames....it was a great little hint to what was hiding inside all that frosting! (we didn't tell our guests what kind of cake we made....everyone loves a birthday surprise!)



A quick couple of birthday wishes....


...and it was time for the big reveal!


Isn't it beautiful? A cake fit for a princess. Or a couple of princesses. Or a couple of princesses' pet unicorn!


It turned out exactly as I hoped....or even better...and it tasted just as good as it looked. A birthday well spent!

8 comments :

  1. Awesome! I love it! And I love the idea of the colored candles. I'm craving cake now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful! I guess your crafty projects do extend to ambitious kitchen projects as well!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You and you mom are beautiful...and yes, the cake turned out pretty too. Glad you were born so that we could be friends!

    ReplyDelete
  4. And I was almost mad when I read this because I felt like you beat me to this cake... I have been wanting to make it for a while. I will call you before I do, I have questions about pans and freezing the layers, do you read i am baker blog?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Suzz- I'd love to help you! It was very simple...but it did take a long time. And make quite a mess! I've never read that baking blog...I'll have ot check it out!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dannnnnggggg girlfriend. That cakes looks GOOD. With Megan's birthday coming up we may be taking on that task ourselves. Thanks for making it look super easy and totally fun.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cool cake! And candles too! Don't worry, you have until July to come up with another just as awesome cake... you know, for your humble correspondent... me!

    ReplyDelete