Rainbow Cake

This is the best white cake recipe ever! I make it all the time, and my Mom has made it for the family for years. Every time it is made people devour it! I used this recipe for the Rainbow Cake. It is from Bon Appetit (June 1994)

Cake (make two batches of this separately for the 6 layers)

Ingredients

• 3 cups cake flour (I used All Purpose)
• 1 tbl baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups of sugar
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp coconut extract (optional)
• 1 398ml (14 oz) can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 6 colors of gel food coloring

Directions for Cake

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line bottoms of two (or three if you have three, it would make it less time) 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch high sides with waxed paper. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth, gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add yolks 1 at a time, beating well with each addition. Mix in vanilla and coconut extracts. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with coconut milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients and beating until just combined. 

Using clean beaters, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl until medium-firm peaks form. Fold 1/3 of whites into cake batter to lighten, then fold the remaining.

Divide batter into 3 separate bowls. Add a little bit, and I mean little drop, of gel food coloring to batter and mix until it is the color you want that layer to be. Use different colors for each bowl. 

Pour batter into lined pans and cook for approx. 15 minutes, check your cake with a toothpick, if it does not come out clean cook for another 5 minutes and check again.

Pull pans out and let cake rest in pans for 10 minutes, then use a knife along the sides of the cake and pan to loosen. Finally, carefully transfer to cooling rack and peel wax paper off. 

Repeat all steps for the 4th-6th layers.

You can make the cake layers a day ahead, make sure to wrap them in saran tightly and leave at room temperature.

Icing 

Believe me when I say you need A LOT of icing for this cake. It has six layers and you will want icing in between layers as well as it being so tall you will need a lot to cover the outside. 

Ingredients 

• 15 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1.5 (the Kg size) bags of icing sugar

Directions

Divide your ingredients into two batches, this will make it easier to mix. Cream your cream cheese and butter together first. Add your icing sugar a little bit at a time until well combined. 

Ice the cake layer by layer, and then the outside. The icing will harden in the fridge so remember if you make it ahead of time give it time to soften again before you ice the cake.

ENJOY! And if you need a nice white cake make this recipe in half and omit the food coloring. This is one of my favorite cakes!