Halloween Inspired Rainbow Cake
Many of you have probably seen my original rainbow cake (here on my blog, here on pinterest, or here at OneCharmingParty). Here is a new twist on it - featuring SPOOKY hues and SPIKY purple buttercream.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make your favorite homemade or boxed WHITE cake recipe (you need white cake, as it will take on the colors more accurately). For a 6" cake I used one whole recipe (the cake is very tall). For an 8" or 9" cake, you should probably double your recipe. Divide your batter evenly into 8 separate bowls. Using gel paste food coloring, color your batter (I used 4 colors, and did two bowls of each, so I would have 8 SPOOKY layers of cake.
2. Spray your pans liberally with BAKING spray (i.e. PAM with FLOUR - you can find it in the baking aisle at your market). I have found this to be the easiest. You can also opt to butter and flour your pans, but you are making 8 layers of cake - and the spray is the fastest. Bake the cakes for 9 minutes for a 6" pan, 10-11 minutes for an 8" pan. You can bake 2 pans at once. Let the cakes cool for about 5 minutes before removing them from the pans. When you remove them, immediately wrap them in plastic wrap, while still warm, and place into the freezer. This helps the cakes remain very moist, and having them frozen makes them easier to stack later, as the layers are very thin. Repeat this process with the remaining batter. Give the cakes time to freeze if possible before the next step. (You can bake the cakes a few days ahead of time, they are fine in the freezer).
3. Make a good amount of your favorite buttercream frosting - you'll need about 6 cups. Begin assembling the cake. You can put it on a cake board, or directly on your cake plate. Put a little frosting under your first layer, so the cake will be stuck to the cake plate. Spread a thin (about 1/4") layer of buttercream between each layer of cake (unwrapping them as you go). If your cake is looking crooked, don't be afraid to press down on it to even it out. Move as quickly as possible - it's easiest when the cakes are cold!
4. Now frost a thin layer of buttercream around the entire cake (a crumb coat). Don't worry about what it looks like, you'll be covering it up with SPIKES! If you want to keep the cake smooth - stop after the crumb coat and place the cake in the fridge for a few minutes to let the buttercream firm up, and then add another coat, smoothing it out for a finished look.
5. Using a pastry bag and a plain round 1/4" tip, pipe spiky beads around the entire cake starting in the center of the top and working your way out and down. To make the spikes - place your tip slightly above the surface, squeeze until a round bead forms and STOP squeezing as you pull away QUICKLY.
6. When the cake is covered with spikes, place it in the fridge and keep refrigerated until ready to use. You want the cake to be COLD when you slice it - and make sure you heat your knife before slicing the cake (by running it under hot water for a few seconds and then wiping off the water). This will ensure that the layers don't smash together when slicing.
