Look at this cake. So unassuming…so innocent looking. Of course the fluffy whiteness just makes you wonder what secrets lurk beneath the sweetness.
Would you ever suspect that in its nakedness it would look like this???
I had been wanting to try to make one of these babies for several weeks. I nearly made one for my nephew for his birthday on the 19th, but I was afraid the pretty colors would be lost on a teenage boy that just turned 18. So, I jumped at the chance to volunteer to make a dessert this weekend and haul it over to my parents’ home for dinner.
All gussied up with an icing coat and sliced up, it made quite an impression on my parents and my older sister and my brother in law who are currently in town, trying to escape the incredible amounts of snow that they have been buried under for months now.
It was like having a slice of sunshine cutting right through the crappy cold weather….
It was so much fun to make, and I seriously thought it was going to be a chore!
I totally cheated and used a box white cake mix and divided it into seven 1/2 cup servings and colored each bowl full accordingly with food coloring, and baked each layer in a well greased 9 inch round cake pan.
The first two layers about gave me a nervous breakdown because it was so thin that it nearly didn’t even coat the bottom. But, in a matter of minutes in a 350 degree oven, they baked up perfectly. I then stacked them in the “Roy G. Biv” rainbow color order that we learned about in school, and got more and more excited with each step.
I thought I was going to squeal when I laid the first slice down onto a plate, but controlled myself, since I had an audience.
I also made up the cheat by making my own lemon buttercream icing. It was awesome – the subtle brightness in the undertones of the sweet frosting just added to the summery feel.
Lemon Buttercream
- 1/2 c. butter or margarine
- 3/4 c. shortening
- 2 pounds confectioner’s sugar
- 3/4 tsp lemon extract
- 3 tbsp half and half (more or less, depending on the consistency you are looking for)
blend butter and shortening together, add confectioners sugar about 1 cup at a time until blended. The frosting will likely look very crumbly at this stage
add lemon extract and then half and half (or milk) one tablespoon at a time until you achieve the desired consistency
Doppelganger Dough Puncher 