R is for Rainbow Cake

I almost backed out of today's planned (yes, I really do plan these things) Pinterest project for the A to Z Challenge. I woke up at 5:00 a.m. yesterday morning in a panic over how complicated the whole thing was probably going to be and searched through Pinterest for another project, but nothing jumped out at me, and besides, this was something I really did want to try.

Here's the pin:

Found on marthastewart.com

Knowing it was a Martha Stewart recipe, I anticipated this to be complicated. I was right.

After a trip to Hobby Lobby for gel food coloring from the cake decorating department in all the colors of the *ahem* rainbow, I went home and got to work. (The total I've invested in this year's A to Z Challenge is now up to roughly $23,297, I believe). 

Several of the ingredients in the cake recipe needed to be at room temperature, which they weren't, so I set them (egg whites, milk, and butter) on top of the stove to hurry them along with the help of the vent from the oven that I was pre-heating. Half an hour later, I was able to start the cake. (The cake recipe wasn't difficult, but I thought the consistency of the batter was awfully thin. I realize a scratch cake and a cake mix cake are very different animals, but it still seemed a little runny to me 

See? Runny. Didn't seem right.

The next step is when the whole thing turned into a pain in the ass.

The batter had to be divided equally into six different bowls. In case you wondered, there really is no good way to do this, and certainly no NEAT way. I finally decided on using the ice cream scoop to divvy up the batter and keep each bowl as equal as possible, and I must say, it was ingenious, because three scoops per bowl was EXACTLY right.

Next, I squeezed in the gel food coloring, one color per bowl, and stirred them into the batter. Piece of cake (tee hee!).

Pain in the ass part again: each layer had to be baked in a 9" round cake pan that was greased (I used cooking spray), lined with a piece of parchment paper, cut to fit the bottom of the pan, and the parchment greased (or sprayed with more cooking spray). Dear Martha said to do this to all six pans.

WHO IN THE HELL HAS SIX 9" CAKE PANS LYING AROUND THEIR KITCHEN?!

I had exactly two pans, so I had to bake two layers at a time, then wait for the finished layers to cool for ten minutes before turning them out onto a rack, washing and drying the pans, and tracing and cutting out two new parchment paper circles to go in the bottom for the next two layers.

Three hours later, the layers were baked and cooled. Instead of Martha's frosting recipe, I went with a recipe of my own that I like rather well (1 cup butter or margerine, softened, one jar of marshmallow cream, two cups of powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt) and put the cake together. I thought the layers had a bit of a rubbery feel to them, but they LOOKED pretty.

Dig my early 1980's era Tupperware cake holder?

L

Does that look as tall as Martha's cake? I'm onto her.
Smoke and mirrors.

Looks pretty much like Martha's.

Yeah, I did this. 

The cake had a coarse crumb, but it tasted good. I think if I were to make it again (and I might, but not for a long, long time), I would forget Martha's recipe and use a white cake mix. 

Yes, it was a huge pain in the ass, but I'd still call it a Pinterest win.

***Special Note*** If I were to serve this cake to my preschoolers (or any other vibrantly colored food, like electric blue-frosted cupcakes), I would give them the same talk I'm about to give to you. After eating this, your poo most likely will turn green. You can test it if you don't believe me.

***Another Note*** I am aware of the hypocrisy of telling you this after writing in "M is for Magic Oil" that I am too ladylike to talk about such things, but if I make it a general statement that is not directly about me, then I can justify it.

***Yet Another Note*** My preschoolers always come to school the next time and tell me how I was RIGHT and THEIR POOP WAS GREEN! It is not necessary that you report your findings to me, but if you do, you won't be the first one to do so.