HOW TO MAKE A RAINBOW CAKE FROM SCRATCH, EASILY!! FAIL-PROOF BUTTERMILK VANILLA CAKE RECIPE THAT’S DELICIOUS, EASY AND DOWNRIGHT IMPRESSIVE!
Prep time: PT30M
Cook time: PT15M
Total time: PT45M
Rating
4.42 stars (154 reviews)
Keywords
food coloring, rainbow
Ingredients
2 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter (softened)
3 eggs (room temperature)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Food coloring: (red, yellow, blue, green)
12 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 ½ cups butter (softened (do not melt))
6 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Categories
cake
Dessert
Cuisine
American
Steps
Preheat oven to 325 F. Generously grease and flour 6 (9-inch cake pans.) I only had 3 pans so I had to bake in two rounds. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter.
Mix in eggs until thoroughly incorporated.
Mix in vanilla extract, buttermilk and heavy cream.
Mix in half of the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Once the mixture is combined, mix in the rest of the flour.
Divide the batter into six bowls (about 1 cup of batter per bowl)
Add food coloring to each bowl to create a vibrant red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. (see note on how to make colors)
Pour each colored batter into the prepared pans and spread out into an even layer. (layers will be thin)
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until center is set. Do not overbake. Keep a close eye on them as some ovens run hotter and these are thin layers.
Remove from oven and let cakes cool in the pan until pans are cool enough to touch.
Run a spatula around the edges of the pans to loosen the cake and then very carefully remove the cakes from the pans.
Place on a cooling rack and cool completely.
Meanwhile make the cream cheese frosting by creaming together cream cheese and butter.
Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Set aside.
Place the violet layer down first and frost. Followed by the blue layer, green layer, yellow layer, orange layer and finally the red layer. (frost between each layer)
Once stacked, place a thin coat of the icing on the cake to create a crumb coat. This will make the cake even all around and seal any loose crumbs.
Once the crumb coat is set, finish frosting the cake.
(To create more defined layers of frosting between the colors, place the frosted cake in the fridge to allow the cream cheese frosting to firm up before slicing.)
Reviews
Anita Sulik on 2024-01-27 (5 stars): Great recipe that resulted in a very tasty cake.
Kathryn on 2023-10-16 (5 stars): This is a great rainbow cake recipe and directions. I have made it 3 or 4 times over the past 6 years since I found it and my family loves it. I prefer a little thicker cake layers, so I make 1 and 1/2 times the recipe (cake only - don't need to increase the amount of frosting.) and it comes out with a really great cake/frosting ratio. The only change I make is I use a little less sugar in the cake. I just LOVE the buttermilk cake recipe, but as written it's way too sweet for me. For the standard single recipe I use about 1 and 3/4 cups. For the 1.5 recipe I use about 2 and 3/4 cups sugar and it is wonderfully sweet but not overwhelming. Thank you for this fun recipe!
Deborah Schnell on 2023-10-13 (5 stars): This is the BEST cake I have made in a long time. I was on my 3rd attempt making a rainbow cake(I tried 2 different recipes first)& this recipe was easy to make, great tasting, light & will definitely make it again. Also made a small cake without food coloring using this recipe and it was delicious even without frosting. I wanted layers not so thin so I made 4 9” round and then made another batch hence I had the extra batter for the plain cake.
Highly recommend, thank you Diva!
MuffinMama on 2023-05-15 (5 stars): I've made this cake at least 3-4 times and the cupcakes, too and it's such a winner! Thank you! It's gorgeous and so fun. Such a fun surprise to cut into it and see what the final cake looks like inside. The flavor is light and delicious without being overly sweet! The 2 key takeaways are 1) Like it says in the recipe -Don't over bake the cakes. Because each layer is fairly thin it only takes 10-15 minutes max to bake. 2) I reduced the amount of sugar in the frosting to only 2 cups of sugar and it's perfect- still sweet enough without being overwhelming and still has that lovely vanilla flavor. and wonderful light flavor.
MuffinMama on 2023-04-24 (5 stars): Beautiful and SO FUN! I've made this cake about 3-4 times. Once we made it into rainbow tie-dye cupcakes. It's delicious, moist and pretty easy. The most fun is cutting into eat, followed by making the colors. We're making it again for my daughter's 10th birthday but this time she wants various shades of blue. Thanks, Monique!!
Ena on 2023-04-23 (5 stars): I have made this cake many times, birthdays included, and everyone says it is AMAZING! I don’t like cake…except I love this cake. The buttermilk and texture of the cake itself is moist and delish, not too dense or dry. The cream cheese frosting is a definitive recipe: soft and tasty and slightly tart.
Make it!!!
Annette on 2023-04-07 (5 stars): This is the Most Deliciously Moist Cake Ever!!
Katie on 2022-05-16 (5 stars): Thank you so much for sharing this! I made it for my daughter's birthday this past weekend & it turned out great - and DELICIOUS! Easy to follow recipe & I loved your video!
Venessa on 2022-03-03 (5 stars): Omg!!!!!! This cake is super delicious and moist!!!
Made it for me and my boyfriend last June, we both loved it so much!!
I cannot wait to make it again for PRIDE Month in June this year!!!!!
Monique, girl.......you know how to bake!!:)
Thank you so much for this incredible recipe.
Robyn on 2021-11-02 (4 stars): I would be less worried about overcooking these than the author is. Mine took a long time to have a clear toothpick. Even so I wish I had left them in a bit longer still and left them in the pans longer than the author suggests. Past when you can handle the pans-I'd give them until they're quite cool. Because they are such thin cakes they break! Haha. Mine broke. But they taste nice! I made this for my cute almost 4 year old so I think he'll still like it even though some of the layers are patched together with frosting.
Kat on 2021-06-05 (5 stars): Made this cake for my daughters 10th bday!! She was adamant on a rainbow cake and I searched for a recipe that was going to be above average. Well this my formers is IT!!! It was a huge hit and I have had requests from all those who were lucky enough to have a taste to make it again. Including myself.., I have been craving this dang cake every day since... . Going to make it again today and experiment with pink and white layers. I like the idea of layers so you can have the perfect disbursement of cake and frosting. Amazingly memorable cake. Thank you Monique for the recipe. I feel that I have been robbed all my life using boxed cake mixes.
Lynn Sullivan on 2021-06-02 (5 stars): 2nd year in a row for this cake! It’s a great recipe that is easy to follow with great results! I’m not a baker, but I feel like Buddy The Cake Boss with this cake! Thank you so much!
