When I first had the idea for these adorable Rainbow Mini Cakes, I thought they’d be perfect for St. Patrick’s Day! But then I realized they’d work for so many things… a Unicorn Birthday Party, a Rainbow Themed Party, a colorful Art Party or a Tuesday afternoon playdate. I mean, rainbows pretty much go with anything, right?! Let me walk you through, step by step, how to put together these small colorful treats for your next party!
St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow Cakes
St. Patrick’s Day decor is all about green shamrocks, leprechauns, rainbows and pots of gold! That’s why these darling Rainbow Mini Cakes are the perfect treat for a St. Patrick’s Day Party! Here are the steps to take to create these cute cakes…
Step 1: Mix, Color and Bake
You can make these cakes as complex or simple as you want, opting to make your cake from scratch or simplifying things by using a box cake. I made these mini cakes from scratch following Beth Branch’s recipe in Hello Sugar! for her Coconut Dream Cake and the cakes were delicious! However, next time I make these, I’ll be using a box cake because the assembly is somewhat time consuming and I’d rather save time where I can.
Whatever method you choose, once you’ve mixed your batter, divide it into 3 bowls and add food coloring to each to create one bowl of red, one bowl of green and one bowl of purple.
Pour each into a separate pan (I used two 8″ rounds and one 8″ square) and bake as directed until done. Let each cake cool completely. Note: I was able to get more circles cut out of the square pan than the rounds.
Step 2: Cut Your Circles
Once your cakes are completely cool, remove them from the pan (or you could cut your circles directly in the pan – your choice). Using about a 2″ round cookie cutter (mine was 2.25 inches), cut as many cake circles as you need for your party.
Next, you’ll cut each circle in half so that your three tiered mini cake isn’t too tall!
Step 3: Assemble with Icing
For this next step you have a choice again – homemade icing or store bought. Totally your choice, both will work and taste great! I made the coconut buttercream frosting from Hello Sugar! for these.
You’ll divide your frosting into 3 bowls and add food coloring to turn one of them orange or yellow and the other one blue. Keep one white for the top of the cake. Add each color to a different piping bag. I used a #22 piping tip for the orange and blue icing and a #12 piping tip for the white icing.
Begin with all three piping bags and three pieces of cake – one of each color. You’ll start by icing the purple cake with the blue frosting, building your rainbow in reverse. I piped a circle of icing working from the outside in. Remember, you’ll be putting a piece of cake on top of this, so it doesn’t have to look perfect, just make sure you get enough close to the edges so the icing shows when it’s all stacked up.
Next, gently place the green layer of cake on top of your blue icing.
Then, you’ll repeat the same process with the yellow or orange icing, working from the outside in again.
Next, place your red (or pink in my case) layer of cake on top of the yellow icing.
Finally, you’ll top your cake with your white icing. I moved around the edge of the cake making small mounds so they resembled clouds. To avoid points on the top of each, stop squeezing your icing before you pull the piping tip away. Again, it doesn’t have to be perfect, just cover the top so it looks cloud like and then add two additional “clouds” to each side to serve as the base for your candy rainbow topper.
Step 4: Add Your Rainbow Cake Topper
The final step is to add your rainbow cake topper to the frosting clouds you just made. Cut a strip of AirHeads Xtremes Sweetly Sour Candy in Rainbow Berry is half and then create an arch, pushing the ends into the extra two clouds you added on top of your cake.
And then repeat that same process for as many cakes as you need for your party or event. I worked in batches by layer, doing all of the blue icing on each cake first instead of finishing one cake at a time. It was more efficient for me. How cute are these when they’re all done?!
Seriously, they are just the perfect St. Patrick’s Day treat and they delighted every person – young and old – who saw them and devoured them! They’re sure to be a huge hit at your party too!
And because my daughter is a huge fan of all things unicorn, I just had to take a few pictures for those of you considering these for a Unicorn Party too! They work perfectly and all the little girls would love having their very own mini rainbow cake to celebrate the big day!
Whether you’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, unicorns, rainbows or just because, I hope this special mini cake makes its way into your house! Be sure to Pin this post for later baking!
