Is there anything happier than an 8-color cake? # 351: Rainbow Bundt Cake

Oops, answered my own question: glitter, duh! Next time I’ll have to add a glitter glaze to dazzle you before slice into it.

I baked this rainbow cutie on June 30th, so just barely made the cut-off for Pride month. But like with any celebration month, 30 days is too short!

My attempt at even, arched layers turned into more of a tie-dye vibe. Maybe if I double the batter amounts, there will be enough to have a solid layer of each color. And the rest of the extra batter could be swirled into cupcakes! (It’s amazing how each bake I check off my list adds another 3 or 4 back onto it.)

Bundt cakes are dense cakes enriched with eggs, milk and butter and baked in a ring-shaped tin. Instead of the equal ingredient ratio of a pound cake, their ingredient list more resembles that of a tea cake, sometimes including sour cream or yogurt for extra moisture.

I go down a bundt pan history rabbit hole in my Citrus Champagne Bundt Cake post. This one might be my favorite design! Though my art deco one gives it a run for its money.

Room temperature butter = the perfect pan-buttering situation. The butter wrappers naturally have melty butter clinging to them that you can use to get all into the nooks and crannies of the pan design. My childhood cooking teacher Weezie used to keep them in her freezer to always have one on hand when the need arose. I’m not quite on that level yet, but give it a few years.

You can see the batter considering splitting after the eggs bomb it with more fat and moisture than it knows what to do with. Bring on the flour!

Phew all better. Flour links elbows with the liquid and fat molecules and convinces them all to be friends.

I put a tiny bit of flavoring in each layer (cinnamon in the red, lemon in the yellow, blueberry in the blue, etc) but in the end the vanilla won out. I was too timid with the liquid flavorings since I didn’t want to mess with the batter texture. Next time I gotta go with all dry flavorings like spices or just be consistently bold with the same amount of added liquid to each batter color.

Being out of orange zest, I went with Aperol for the orange color batter. Spritz anyone?

Mint felt too strong so green became almond. Ooo maybe basil next time?

Cocoa powder in the final layer, because… why not!

Voila, no rips! Ten minutes of cooling helps the cake settle a bit and hold its shape when flipped, but it’s not long enough to allow it to get too attached to the sides of the pan. It might just be my bundt pans, but I feel like the longer I let them cool in the pan, the more separation anxiety they develop.

Happy munching!

Base cake recipe from: All Cakes Considered by Melissa Grey