Rainbow Layer Cake

Prep 30 min
Total 2 hr 0 min
Servings 10

You’ll be proud to make and serve a cake that’s as much fun as this one. Rainbow layer cake is surprisingly easy to create, thanks to a little help from Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ vanilla cake mix and Betty Crocker™ classic gel food colors. MORE+ LESS-

By Angie McGowan

Updated July 9, 2020

Make with

Betty Crocker Cake Mix

Ingredients

Cake

boxes Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ vanilla cake mix

cups water

cup vegetable oil

eggs

packages (2.7 oz each) Betty Crocker™ classic gel food colors

Buttercream Frosting

cup shortening

cup butter, softened

bag (2 lb) powdered sugar

teaspoons vanilla

to 4 tablespoons milk

Steps

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1

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 3 (8-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray.
2

In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide batter evenly among 6 small bowls, about 1 1/3 cups each.
3

Using food colors, tint batter in 1 bowl blue, 1 bowl red, 1 bowl green, 1 bowl yellow, 1 bowl orange (using red and yellow) and 1 bowl purple (using blue and red).
4

Refrigerate 3 colors of batter until ready to bake. Pour remaining 3 colors of batter into cake pans.
5

Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center and begins to pull away from side of pan. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooling racks; cool completely.
6

Wash cake pans. Bake and cool remaining 3 cake layers as directed.
7

In large bowl, beat shortening and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until light yellow. On low speed, gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until frosting is smooth. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy.
8

Trim rounded tops off cakes to level, if needed. On serving plate, place purple cake layer. Spread with frosting to within 1/4 inch of edge. Repeat with blue, green, yellow, orange and red cake layers. Spread light coat of frosting on top and side of cake to seal in crumbs, then frost with remaining frosting.

Expert Tips

Cake batter is stable enough to wait in the fridge until the first three layers are baked. Be sure to rinse the pans in cool water and dry them well before scraping the rest of the batters into the pans. Bake as directed.
If you only have two 8-inch cake pans, bake the cakes in three batches instead.
To make sure cake layers bake up level, be sure to evenly divide the batter between the bowls when coloring.
Using half shortening and half butter for the buttercream frosting ensures that it will stay firm enough at room temperature. Make it ahead and chill it for a while to firm it up before assembling the layers.
For guaranteed easy unmolding, line each pan with baking parchment. Set one of the pans on the paper and trace a circle around the base with the tip of a sharp paring knife to create a round that fits inside the pan; repeat to make enough for all the layers.
For a deeper red color, add a teaspoon or two of unsweetened baking cocoa to the red batter
Make this a party cake and switch up the colored layers as requested by the birthday girl or boy.

Nutrition Information

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving

Calories: 1280
Calories from Fat: 600

% Daily Value

Total Fat: 67g; 103%
Saturated Fat 23g 116% Trans Fat 1g
Cholesterol: 160mg; 54%
Sodium: 810mg; 34%
Potassium: 105mg; 3%
Total Carbohydrate: 163g; 54%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0% Sugars 127g
Protein: 6g

% Daily Value*:

Vitamin A: 15%; 15%
Vitamin C: 0%; 0%
Calcium: 20%; 20%
Iron: 10%; 10%

Exchanges:

2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 9 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 13 Fat;

Carbohydrate Choice

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

More About This Recipe

As the classic children’s song says, “Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple Make the Rainbow Bright.” All the colors of that fabulous rainbow come together in a super-celebratory rainbow layer cake that’s perfect for any occasion. If you’ve been wondering how to make a rainbow cake, Betty is ready to walk you through all the steps. Rely on Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ vanilla cake mix and Betty Crocker™ classic gel food colors to streamline the baking process. Get ready for some major “oohs” and “aaahs” when you cut into this full-spectrum masterpiece. And now that you’ve got rainbow cake mix mastered, you can find traditional favorites, quick-and-easy shortcuts and fun new twists in Betty’s Best Layer Cakes recipe collection.