SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW – LEVI TURNED 5

DECEMBER 22, 2010

cake-rainbow-levi_

Last week, Levi embarked, on what I believe to be, a true milestone.  He became 5.  He became 5 and loved every ounce of his birthday.  Levi knew the day was all about him and he soaked in all the attention, all the love, and all the joy.  He was very specific on what he wanted on his birthday. Breakfast was going to be my mini buttermilk doughnuts, lunch was just he and I at Factors, and dinner was Carneys with all 5 of us.

Yet, before we could get to the actual day of celebrations, we had to decide on what his cake was going to be. He and I had been talking about making a rainbow cake for sometime.  We couldn’t decide if the rainbow cake was going to be for his class mates or his birthday party (which I have yet to plan).  We decided to make this for his classmates and I have to say, this was a great project to do together. He loved picking out the colors for each layer, yet loved even more seeing the colors come to life in each of the 7 different bowls.  He was very specific on what colors he wanted and how the cake should be decorated.  Gummy worms were a must and he decided that there needed to be a chocolate component(he wanted a brown layer, but we nixed it).  M & M’s seemed like the natural choice.  He spent the entire time in the kitchen with me and took pride in everything that he did. For both of us, it was a great day!

I love sharing these moments with my kids.  Watching him add the flour to the mixing bowl, licking the spatula (when he doesn’t think I am looking), and the unexpected laughter that comes and goes is pure joy.  I am happy that I am able to give my children this gift of  these little moments.  I know I will cherish this memory for many years to come.  I am hoping that one day, Levi will look back on his 5th birthday and remember how joyful it was

7 layer rainbow cake
adapted from here
I made this cake in 8″ cake tins and I doubled the cake recipe and made 2 1/2 times the frostingingredients:
(these ingredients are for a single recipe)
for the cake
8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
3 cups cake flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups milk
food coloringfor the frosting
2 8oz. package cream cheese
4 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1 tsp. vanilla extractinstructions:
for the cake:
• preheat oven to 375*
• butter and flour your pans
• cream 8 oz butter and 2 cups sugar until fluffy. add the eggs, one at a time.  add the vanilla extract.
• in another bowl, sift the cake flour, baking powder, + 1/2 tsp. salt.
• add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk.  mix until incorporated.
• have a bowl for each color of batter.  I measured out the batter, into each bowl, in 1 cup increments.  I have to say, my layers turned out pretty even.  add your food coloring to each bowl.  i really didn’t measure the food coloring, just mixed it up until we got the color Levi desired.
• put the batter into each of the prepared cake pans.  level the batter with an offset spatula, then tap the pans on the kitchen counter to release any air bubbles.
• bake in the preheated oven for about 22-30, minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• let the cake cool on racks, in their pans for at least 15 minutes.  turn them onto racks to cool.  while the cakes are cooling, make your frosting

for the frosting:
• cream together the cream cheese and the butter until creamy
• add the vanilla and combine.
• gradually add the confectioners’ sugar.  I may have added a bit more…I prefer a thicker frosting.
• layer the frosting between the cake  layers. I did this all at once.  I wouldn’t suggest that.  My cake started to tip.  To save it, I stuck wooden skewers in the center and all around the perimeter. In the future, I would frost 3 layers at a time, refrigerate an then repeat.

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