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.