Thursday, August 25, 2011

The Cake with a Surprise Inside (two actually)



My oldest turned 15 a month ago.  Each year on her birthday, I'm reminded of how she came into the world - 3 months early and only 2 pounds 15 ounces. Now she's teaching herself and others (via YouTube) how to play the guitar, she's making her own spending money from babysitting jobs and doing her own laundry.  And she's a year away from driving a car.   I'm. Not. Ready.

But ready or not, your kids grow up.



So let's bake a cake and forget about our kids growing up and leaving us for a minute ...one recipe of white vanilla cake batter, six 6-inch round cake pans, 6 jars of gel food coloring in the colors of the rainbow.   A rainbow cake is beautiful and makes a huge impact - the oohs and aahs you hear when you pull out that first slice!

So what is the second surprise in the cake? Well, just keepin it real -in my haste to get 6 layers of cake in the proper order all frosted and perfect, I forgot to pull the parchment paper off the yellow layer of cake. I cut into the cake, everyone waiting for the big surprise, and I felt some resistance, then I felt a bit of embarrassment. I knew exactly what the problem was. I cut through the parchment to get the first piece out, then I gently pulled the entire piece of parchment out of the rest of the cake - voila! What a relief!

It's a good lesson to learn when it's only close family around to see the blunder!

Happy Birthday Ellen!




To make this rainbow cake, I used my favorite white cake recipe  and divided the batter evenly into 6 bowls. A scale is handy for this to be sure the layers are the same size. Add the desired amount of food coloring (Spectrum or Americolor gels are easiest to use) and pour into 6 separate greased and parchment-lined 6-inch round baking pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.

Layer and frost with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  I used this easy method of decorating.

6 comments:

  1. Gorgeous cake and gorgeous birthday girl!
    Thanks for sharing your mistake with us - made me smile!
    Lou.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Deanna,

    So beautiful and I smiled at the mental picture of you realizing your error...too funny.

    OK...now that I have gotten the nice comment thing out of the way....WHERE IS MY PIECE??????

    You know you are gaining a bad reputation of not following through...

    Janet xox

    ;->

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've seen these rainbow cakes and always wanted to try them! 15??? Can't be, because that would mean I'm old...and I'm not old. No!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just love these rainbow cakes, and yours is one of the pretties I've seen. What a fun birthday cake for your daughter.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the compliments everyone! Jen, just because I have a 15-year old doesn't mean that YOU are old, it means I am! HAHA you're still a few years away, aren't you? Imagine how our parents feel when they tell someone their kid is 40 something! Ouch!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is the coolest cake ever.

    Our family's birthday season is just around the corner. I know what I'm making this year...

    ReplyDelete

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