This cheerful rainbow layer cake with stunning white frosting is a show stopping birthday cake that is deceptively easy to recreate.
PREP TIME 30 minutesminutes
Additional Time 30 minutesminutes
COOK TIME 45 minutesminutes
TOTAL TIME 1 hourhour45 minutesminutes
YIELD 10servings
Ingredients
1cup(2 sticks) buttersoftened
2 1/3cupsugar
5eggsroom temp
2tspvanilla
3cupsall-purpose flour
4tspbaking powder
1tspsalt
1 1/2cupsmilkroom temp
GEL food coloring: redorange, yellow, green, blue, purple
2batches of white frosting
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Working with just 2 round cake pans, you'll need to bake the layers in stages. Butter 2 cake pans and line them with a circle of parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper as well. This ensures your layers come out smoothly and is really important for this recipe.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Cream the sugar and butter, then add the egg whites and add them a little at a time. Add the vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Then, alternating between wet and dry, add the milk and flour mixture in two parts.
Divide the batter EVENLY amongst 6 bowls. It helps to measuring it out with measuring cups. Put 1 cup of batter into each bowl and then use a ⅓ c to divide the remaining batter. Whisk a fair amount of the appropriate food color into each bowl. Keep in mind that the color of the unbaked batter will be the color of the baked batter. Pour into the pans and bake for 15 minutes each or until a toothpick comes out clean.
When you remove the pans from the oven, let them rest on the cooling rack, in the pan, for ten minutes. Then flip onto the wire rack to cool completely.
To Decorate:
Once the layers are completely cooled, you can assemble the cake. Put one layer on your cake plate and top with a scant 1-cup of white frosting. Add the next layer and another cup of frosting. Continue this pattern until the cake is assembled and then finish frosting as desired.
To save time, you can bake the layers in advance and freeze them. Then just assemble the cake closer to your party.To Freeze: If freezing your layers, wrap COMPLETELY COOLED individual layers in a double layer of plastic wrap and then in a layer of tin foil. Stack the layers on a cookie sheet and store in your freezer.To Defrost and Use: Let the cake layers sit on the counter still in their wrappings for about two hours before you attempt to assemble the cake. Work carefully layer by layer spreading a scant 1 cup of frosting between each layer.The cake will last 1 - 3 days frosted in the fridge.