So, I had this GREAT idea that I was going to surprise my niece with a RAINBOW CAKE (which is basically a white cake separated in 6 parts and food coloring added to each part that make up the colors of the rainbow). Well I thought it would be an even BETTER idea if I used fondant to cover the cake and make designs. Mind you, I’ve NEVER made a “colored” cake and I’ve NEVER used fondant or even made it before. *chuckle* Yeah so you can see where this is going?
Yesterday, I had my wonderful hubby running from city to city buying products to make this cake just to be sure I had everything I needed. Well what I didn’t know is that making, rolling and attempting to make designs with fondant is NO easy peasy feat. I was SWEATING like I’d walked 1,000 miles in the middle of a hot desert in Africa right on the equator. Further more, I learned that when using fondant it’s best to make it the DAY before and cut out all the designs etc so on “baking day” all you have to do is BAKE. *chuckle*
On another “cook tip to myself note” when using NATURAL food coloring, you need LOTS to get the color you want. So may “rainbow cake” maybe be more like an easter color version with lots of pale and light colors vs. the vibrant colors one would expect of a rainbow. LOL.
For the cake, I used a basic white cake recipe I got from my FAVORITE cook book of ALL time, Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. The recipe was altered as it calls for egg WHITES vs the whole egg since it’s a white cake. Well I TOTALLY forgot the egg whites thus this cake became somewhat of a vegan cake. I say somewhat because I did use milk, which was raw milk. But now I have a really cool vegan white cake recipe, all I have to do is sub in some kind of nut milk, almond being one of my favs.
Basic White Cake Ingredients
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 TBSP baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
5 egg whites
*note* if you’d like to make a vegan version of this cake, simply omit eggs altogether and use a milk alternative in place of cows milk (almond, soy, hemp, oat, etc).
Directions
Beat shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add sugar beating well.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to shortening mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix at low speed after each addition until blended. Stir in vanilla.
Beat egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold beaten egg whites into batter.
Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.
Marshmallow fondant Ingredients
2 TBSP butter melted
1 7oz pack marshmallows
2 TBSP hot water
1 16oz bag of powdered sugar
1 tsp almond extract (or any you have on hand)
Directions
Melt butter in glass or metal bowl on medium heat over double boiler. Once butter is melted add entire pack of marshmallows. Keep an eye on marshmallows and keep stirring them. Once marshmallows are melted, remove from heat and gradually add powdered sugar and stir well. Once powdered sugar is added and no lumps are visible, cover mixture with plastic wrap and set aside for at least 3 to 4 hours to mixture can become really firm and stiff. Fondant may also be placed in plastic bag and refrigerated until ready to use.
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