To make this cake I followed the super detailed instructions given by Megan of Not Martha. That Rainbow Leprechaun Cake is impressive! Megan has since made the same rainbow cake numerous times in different tins but her first attempt turned out to be the best. Megan's instructions for making the rainbow cake are so good I won't re-post them in my own words - just visit her site!
The thing I love most about baking is the cake process itself, so I didn't use a packet mix. I like knowing what's in the batter and using a packet seems to sort of take away the science. Instead I used the recipe for Vanilla Cake from Martha Stewart and I think it was a good alternative although maybe the heavier batter contributed to the fact that my rainbow arches looked more like rainbow globs? Oh well. It was still a bright, cheery, completely undeniable celebration cake. Perfect for birthdays! On birthdays you can eat as much naughty stuff (including multi-coloured cake) without any guilt. I love birthdays.
A great tip I found out from Megan's post was that if you bake a cake at a slightly lower temperature than what the recipe recommends you'll get less doming i.e. a more level cake. Which is really handy thing to know when it comes to making a rainbow cake (or any presentation cake).
For the frosting I used Martha Stewart's Whipped Frosting. I was aiming to make it look a little like clouds. It was light, fluffy and pure white. It didn't keep so well on the cake (going slightly grainy as the bubbles broke down) but the light texture and flavour worked really well with the cake. It wasn't overly sweet or rich like buttercream can sometimes be.
This is a really fun cake. I don't think anyone would be disappointed to cut into this fluffy white cake to reveal the in-your-face, high-density, candy-coloured RAINBOW inside. Unless they're afraid of colouring. But that's no fun. It would make a great kids birthday party cake and also works for people who are kids at heart like my E too. Happy birthday baby.
