The Lovers, The Dreamers, and You Cake {Rainbow Cake}
 
 
A light lemony cake with cream cheese frosting, this four layer rainbow cake is just as delicious as it is beautiful.
Yield: 15 large servings or 30 small servings
Ingredients
For the cake
  • 1 lb unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 cups (800 g) sugar
  • 10 eggs
  • 2 tsp lemon extract
  • 6 cups (750 g) flour
  • 2 tbsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2½ cups reduced fat buttermilk
  • 2-3 drops each of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple food gels
For the frosting
  • 4 cups confectioner's sugar
  • 2 (8 oz) packages lowfat cream cheese, room temperature
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. For the cake, heat the oven t 350F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper. Using a ruler, measure along the shorter sides of the pan and mark the parchment into thirds so that the pans are split 3 ways lengthwise. Flip the parchment over so that the lines are visible but won't actually touch the cake layers.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes on medium speed. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Add the lemon extract and stir to incorporate.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer still running, add in ¼ of the buttermilk mixture, then ⅓ of the flour mixture. Repeat, alternating the buttermilk and flour mixture, until both are incorporated.
  4. Divide the batter evenly among six bowls. Add the dollops of food gel until each so that you have red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple batter.
  5. Transfer the red batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip. Pipe the batter onto one-third of the sheet pan. Clean the tip and bag and repeat with the orange batter. Pipe it onto the middle third of the sheet pan. Clean the tip and bag again and repeat with the yellow batter, piping it onto the final third of the sheet pan. On the second sheet pan, repeat with the green, blue and purple batter.
  6. Bake the cakes for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes spring back when touched. Allow to cool completely.
  7. For the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream together the confectioner's sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Refrigerate for an hour to set.
  8. To assemble the cake, cut the layers in each sheet pan in half so that each half contains all three colors. Transfer one of the red/orange/yellow layers to a parchment-lined sheet pan. Apply a thin layer of frosting to this layer. Carefully top with the green/blue/purple layer. Add another layer of frosting. Repeat the layering and frosting with the remaining red/orange/yellow and green/blue/purple layers.
  9. Before frosting the top, use a serrated knife to trim the sides and ends of the cake so that they are all even. Using a clean offset spatula, apply the remaining frosting to the top of the cake, leaving the sides unfrosted.
  10. To make the sprinkle hearts, cut a heart shape into a piece of parchment paper so that you now have a heart-shaped stencil. Put this on top of the cake and sprinkle the sprinkles into the open heart-shaped hole in the paper. Remove the parchment stencil and then add decorations and sprinkles as desired.
Notes
Adapted slightly from Bake It Like You Mean It: Gorgeous Cakes from Inside Out
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 slice
Recipe by Joanne Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2014/05/rainbow-cake.html