Planning Eleanor’s Second Birthday Party

chole

Great design! (as always)

I love that you are making the cake. I have become “baker of the birthday cake” in our family. I love finding out what each person wants and then searching out the perfect recipe (I use a lot of Cake Mix dr. recipes… they never fail me) Home made cakes are so much more special!

Jessica

I made this cake for my husband’s work. Everyone was amazed. It really wasn’t that hard. I used boxed cakes and I bought 4 and only used 2. I made the layers really small – I think a 1/2 cup per layer? I didn’t want them too thin so it would lean. The hardest part for me was making the icing. Everyone loved it though.

Marissa

That rainbow cake looks precious! And there is no such thing as being overly ambitious for your kid’s birthday…they only come once a year :)

Lydia

Don’t worry about the cake, super easy. It will be a hit!

Erika

LOVE those invitations! I don’t think the cake is hard to make, just a little more time consuming.

Here’s a nice tutorial from Tasty Kitchen.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/rainbow-cake/

Ash

I LOVE your invites. I did a similar theme for my little ones first bday and used these Marimekko Kimara tablecloths from Crate & Barrel http://www.crateandbarrel.com/outlet/table-linens/marimekko-kimara-60%22×108%22-tablecloth/s569448- Jonathon Adler had the EXACT same hanging paper lanterns at the time but I couldn’t find them for you online – they may no longer have them. The rainbow cake looks amazing – looking forward to seeing the photos!

Erin

Cute invites! My daughter Elise was born just a few days before your Eleanor. And her 2nd birthday party is scheduled for the exact same date and time!

Jill Browning

Cute idea! I think this would be a great idea for decorations: http://jordanferney.blogspot.com/2011/03/zig-zag-accordion-streamers-diy.html

They look easy to make and very inexpensive!

Wendy

The cake is so easy!! I actually just did a rainbow party for my daughters 2nd birthday last month. You can view it here if you’d like to check it out:

http://wendyinflorida.blogspot.com/2011/03/morgans-rainbow-party.html

If you don’t mind cake mix – that’s how I make mine. Two white cake mixes (Duncan Hines). I add one extra egg & 1 tsp vanilla to mine. And I use milk instead of water. Then it’s about 1 1/4 cups of batter for 6 colors. 1 tsp of gel food color.

Emily

I made a rainbow cake for my daughter’s first birthday. It was a huge hit. I added fruit to each layer. It tasted fanstastic and got rave reviews from our family and friends. Here is the recipe that I used:

http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/a-rainbow-birthday-cake-fid-415936

Nicole

I made this cake for my parent’s anniversary. I used two white cake mixes (each split into three colors). The baking took the longest because I only had 1 pan I liked. Be sure to put the cake in the fridge after a crumb coat so the final icing layer stays white. Then everyone is amazed when the cake it cut open. It is so fun!

For my daughter’s birthday I did this again with one mix and just 3 layers (pink, orange and red).

Good luck!

Mariesa

That cake is awesome! I’m thinking it would take some time to make each layer, but it looks like it’s worth it.

coucoumadame

my mother-in-law and I made one for my daughter’s 2nd birthday this past weekend. it was a hit. it was a lot of work, but worth it, as it looked beautiful in the end and tasted very yummy. we used natural food coloring (vegetable-based) and it was good but does come out more pastel (unless you really use A LOT of food coloring). i still would prefer pastel though over non-natural food coloring, just personally. we also used maple syrup as a substitute for sugar in the recipe for both the cake and the frosting (cream cheese frosting) and it tasted delicious. oh, one tip…i would definitely bake the cake the day before and frost the day of. it’s very time-consuming. good luck and happy 2nd birthday to your daughter!!

Jana

I have made this cake before…its a process, but the end result is SO worth it!

http://dressingupmuttontolooklikelamb.blogspot.com/2009/08/this-cake-is-gay.html

I agree with the others that said bake and frost on separate days. One time when we made it all in one shot but we were so tired that when it came to stacking the cake we got two of the colors in the wrong order…it was all downhill from there. Also note I said “we” it helps to have a partner in crime on this one.

Beth

I did this cake last year for my daughter’s birthday. Not hard at all. I would recommend freezing the layers before layering/frosting. It helps to keep the whole thing level and makes it much easier to stack. Good luck – she will love it!

Erica

For really detailed step-by-step instructions for a rainbow cake, check out this blog:
http://www.whiskkid.com

http://whisk-kid.blogspot.com/2009/08/say-it-with-cake.html

She even went on Martha Stewart!!!

Loren

I made a similar cake for my boyfriend’s birthday a couple years ago. It was really simple but really messy. Instead of 7 layers one color each, I did two layers that were each rainbow. I had some leftover batter and did the cup cakes too, those were ADORABLE. If I did it again I would only make the cupcakes. Good luck.

Emily

I made this cake after seeing it on Martha Stewart and I did something (maybe a lot of things wrong) it was not pretty and I had to keep making more and more and more frosting. I think if I ever make it again I would use square pans, but honestly the thought of it exhausts me. It seems simple but true to anything Martha does there were a crazy amount of steps. I saw several links in the comments maybe they have easier way to do it.

JC

Made this birthday cake last year for my 6 year old’s birthday! My advice: If you have a food scale, USE IT to ensure that bowl of UN colored cake batter weighs the same amount. Then color the bowls with GEL food coloring. You’ll have even layers. If you don’t have a food scale, GET ONE. I baked 3 layers at a time and had a six layer cake. It was beautiful!

Also, tamp down each cake pan before putting them in the oven, and then use a serrated knife to even out the ones that dome.

Mandy of Kini Style

How fun! I’ve been wanting to attempt a rainbow cake for some time. Can’t wait to see how yours turns out!

Renee

I made that cake last year for my daughter’s 6th birthday and it was super easy and a BIG hit! One little girl even told her mom the cake I made was better than the princess one she got for her own birthday!! lol
Happy birthday to your special girl.

Kristyne

I was going to be supermom too and make the most fabulous birthday cakes every year. But when my little one was diagnosed with Celiac at 2 yrs old, we’ve been condemned to ice cream cakes & banana cream pies (with gluten-free animal cracker crumb crusts). I miss cake. Sigh… Enjoy! And Happy Birthday to the little cutie ;)

Sonja

I made that cake for St. Patrick’s Day with my daughter, just because making a rainbow cake was delightful.

I used three Duncan Hines white cake mixes, four batches of frosting (from the back of the 1 pound box of powdered sugar), and gel food coloring to color each layer. Each mix made 3 layers of cake. I had borrowed an extra set of cake pans, but they were not the same size when measured with a ruler. I rotated each layer in the over after 6 minutes and checked them at 12 minutes – I could be wrong here, but I know they did not take long at all. After they cooled, I froze each layer in freezer paper overnight.

I used a pastry bag without a tip to pipe a spiral of icing in between each layer, then smoothed out with a knife. These layers a small and I was worried about the layers breaking, so I found this to work well. The cake ends up being HUGE, so I would frost the cake the morning of the party (rather than the night before) to avoid any sliding of the layers. Also, I prefer not to trim the layers as they can get “crumb-y” when you frost them. Instead I measured the batter as I divided it into the three bowls so I started with even amounts of batter. Then on the two layer that were slightly rounded up more then the others, I just turned them so the rounded part was facing in toward the middle of the cake and the flat even side was on top.

This cake turns out beautiful! Much better than store bought, and the guests were all surprised when we cut into the cake. I used salad/lunch plates to serve. Good Luck!

Carolyn

HA! I used that recipe for my birthday cake this year. I used different colors (more bold) than the typical ‘rainbow’ colors and let me tell you…it was everything I wanted and more. My thoughts, for what they’re worth. I really hope you do this – I didn’t think it was that much work – especially for something so epic.

I doubled the recipe so the cake was twice as big – which was perfect for the number of guests I had.

For some reason, I couldn’t get the frosting to set (tried it twice), don’t know what was up with that because I’m pretty darn good at baking, but it wasn’t a huge loss – I’m not a fan of most frostings and realized my true love – cream cheese frosting – would be far more preferable. And it was.

The cake was perfectly moist. I had a friend who just ate the ‘clippings’ in a bowl as I was shaping the layers and making them even.

The lemon extract was far more preferable (I made test cakes the week before my birthday…tried it with white cake mix just to see how that might work (tasted lame, consistency was not as awesome), and also tried it with vanilla extract (just not right).

I’m not kidding when I tell you I think of this cake often. I can’t wait until Easter when I can make it again in all its easy, yet decadent glory.

Good luck!!

Melissa

I made a rainbow cake just like that for a rainbow b-day party. I saw an easier version of rainbow cake where they only made three layers of cake(each a different color). They managed to work in all of the oclors of the rainbow by coloring the frosting between each of the layers a different color and then just frosted the outside in white.

Diane V

How about rainbow cupcakes – I’ve made these for graduation parties and various holidays and they are wonderful.

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/05/colorburst-cupcakes/

Diane V

Forgot about mentioning “Color Block” jello – my mom made this a lot for parties when I was a kid.

Found good instructions here:
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/12/glass-block-holiday-jello-festive/

It would totally fit into your rainbow theme.

emma

you should check out makeit-loveit.com she has a great make a cake series and does something like the rainbow cake except it’s a flag inside. sooo cool. i made one last year for 4th of july. & if you have any ?’s she’s great about answering. she’s also got the BEST cream cheese icing recipe EVER. i mean ever. i could live in it. ;)

Katarina

For the gluten-free folks out there, head over here:
http://www.latartinegourmande.com/