Skittles Rainbow Cake!!!

I made the most awesome cake yesterday! I posted pictures of it on Facebook because well, dammit I was pretty proud of myself.

All I did was modify and add some of my own ideas to an existing cake I have seen on Pinterest. When I saw the pictures originally I thought talk about tasting a rainbow! Then it hit me, wait what if the cake was flavored like Skittles and you could taste the rainbow? I actually tried to think of what flavors to use for the colors to get it to taste like Skittles, then it just kind of occurred to me why not just use Skittles to flavor it like Skittles? That was easier than trying to find and buy the flavors at the store.

Friends and family members asked me how I made it and asked for the recipe. So I have decided to map it out for you and share how I made this incredible Skittles Rainbow Cake for my husband and children on Valentine's Day.

What you will need:

Cakes
Space to cool your cakes,
6 jars or bowls
2 cake mixes (I used white cake mix with the whole egg recipe)
eggs
oil
a 14 ounce bag of Skittles
water
food coloring
and patience

Frosting
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cups water
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
4 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla


You begin by separating your Skittles by color. I would recommend starting with the bottom of the rainbow and moving your way up since the syrups and cakes will cool in the same order. I used 6 small mason jars with 1/3 cup of water in each. (the only thing I wish I had done was save some Skittles to put on the top of the cake after frosting, its up to you whether you want to or not).

I used our magic bullet to grind each color up as I went prior to mixing with the water in the saucepan to melt them down. But you don't have to do this step. They will melt from full size. I just don't have the arm endurance to stir that long, so I ground mine up (dry) in the bullet. You could also use a food processor.

Over medium heat dissolve the Skittles with the 1/3 cup water (I prepoured mine to make them all the same and to also have a place to pour the hot syrup into when it was done). I brought mine to a boil briefly and then poured into the jar.
Rinse and repeat. In the last jar I mixed blue food coloring into the 1/3 cup of water, since there are not blue Skittles. This was the only layer in the cake that didn't have a fruit flavor.

This is what my Skittles syrups looked like when finished.
Warning! The syrup is very hot and also smells incredible. Be careful and don't get too close.

Now onto the cake. I did one box at a time to keep them as even as possible. I also only have two cake pans of the same size so I did two at a time. I mixed the cake mix as directed EXCEPT I did not add water. It is best to have a mixer for this since it is a stiff mixture. Separate into 3 even amounts. I measures the first one out and it was just under 3 cups, so I did just under a cup for each.

Again begin with the bottom of the rainbow so when you are assembling your cake the layers you need will be the coolest. I also spooned off the very top of the Skittles syrup, I am pretty sure this was the wax ingredient they use to make the Skittles. Its not harmful to eat and most likely won't effect the cake, but it looked icky to me so I took it out. It was about a spoon and a half of cloudy white waxy liquid.

In a bowl mix your cake mixture and one jar of Skittles syrup well. I added liquid food coloring to get the desired color of cake I wanted. I used the primary regular colors for the red, orange (yellow and red), and green. But for the blue and purple I used the neon food coloring. They have a pretty purple and I mixed the primary blue and the turquoise neon color for the blue cake.

Prepare your pans as you would normally for a cake (I spray and flour mine). The amount of batter in the pan will be less than normal, make sure to even the batter out in your pan so it will bake as evenly as possible. Bake each cake at 350 degrees watching very carefully. They are thinner than normal and will be done quicker. I use the toothpick method to keep from over cooking my cakes. (Dry cake is yucky). Depending on your oven, you may need to rotate them once as they cook. You know your oven, do like you normally do.

Mix, bake, and repeat. If a layer or two are different thicknesses don't worry, it will still look awesome. And don't worry about the colors of the cakes once baked. They look dull and blah on the outsides, but that's what frosting is for. Once you cut into them you will see the wonderful bright colors you mixed earlier.

While your cakes are cooling it is onto the frosting! You can make whatever kind of frosting you like. I made the fluffy white frosting my grandmother has made since I was a kid. It's sweet but not overly rich with butter.

Separate 4 egg whites into your mixer...don't turn on yet.
On the stove mix into a saucepan:
2 cups sugar
2/3 cups water
1/2 tsp cream of tarter

Mix it together and turn on the stove...once you have the stove on walk over and turn on your mixer to beat the egg whites until they have stiff peaks. You want the sugar mixture and egg whites to be done at the same time, which is why you want to turn them on at the same time. (Do not over beat your egg whites or you will end up with more of a divinity than a frosting. Once you can touch a spoon to them and they stick and peak they are ready).

Bring your sugar mixture to a boil. A good bubbly boil, but stop as soon as that happens (your not making candy here). I pour my sugar mixture into a large Pyrex measuring cup because its easier for me to handle the very, very, hot liquid and pour it into the mixture while its going in the mixer without spilling it all over myself. Up to you if you want to just slowly pour from the pan or not.

Your egg whites are ready and your sugar mixture is bubbly hot... while on a medium speed (not fast enough to spit it all out the sides but fast enough to actually mix and whip) slowly drizzle the sugar mixture into the mixer. Once you are done pouring it in you will need to mix for another 7-10 minutes. The hot sugar mixture slowly cooks the egg whites so don't worry you won't be eating raw eggs in your frosting.

It doesn't take too long to cool...so once it is cool enough begin assembling your cake. Remember red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple! So start with purple on the bottom. It works best if you have a spinning cake plate made for frosting (my daughter Macy's best friend, Heather bought me one for Christmas. I helped her make a lovely chocolate cake for her moms birthday and we used a plate on top of a bowl. I don't think that would have worked with 6 layers).

You do not need a lot of frosting in between the layers. The cake is a wonderful sweet flavor and it doesn't need too much. You could skip the frosting all together, but wheres the fun in that?But its up to you and your skill level of keeping the cake upright. Spin and frost. Stack and repeat!

This picture has my very eager-to-eat-cake children in it for a reference on the size of the cake!








Here is our finished product. I recommend refrigerating the cake and keeping it covered. Hopefully it won't last too long, but the frosting dries out if left uncovered and the cake will too. It really preserves the flavor and texture if you can find room for it in your fridge.
Good luck and most importantly, HAVE FUN! If it tastes wonderful, its perfect.