Rainbow Swirl Cake

Wow! You guys sure love an organized Family Command Center, and really want one for yourself...I can't believe all the entries so far in the $100 Staples Card Giveaway for a Martha Stewart Wall Organizer! I love the new system too, and really love how easy it's been to keep organized. Anything that helps our lives run smoother is genius in my book!

As you know, our Babygirl turned 7 on Easter Sunday, and we celebrated with an Art Party (see her invites and win some of your own here). Correction. Another Art Party. Since we had an Art Party for her sixth birthday, too. But, it's what she requested...and I'm surely not going to argue with anything involving creativity and all the colors of the rainbow! But I didn't want to just repeat everything we did last year, including the adorable Rainbow Layer Cake...so we swirled up the colors for this year's cake.

The Rainbow Swirl Cake was a huge hit, and there wasn't a single piece leftover. Care to make this simple cake? Of course you do. All you need is vanilla cake mix and all the fixins instructed on the box, and food color. The gel food colors are great for really vibrant hues, which is what you want for this pot of gold. And sure, you can make your own white cake, but I let Betty do what Betty does best.

Follow all the instructions on the box to make your batter, then split equally into six bowls. Color each bowl in a shade from the rainbow. If you're ~~challenged~~ ~~slow~~ ~~blonde~~ like me, you'll need to repeat, 'red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple' about 187 times during this process. In the first cake pan, spread a layer of red (pink in our case) batter, using all but a few tablespoons, on the bottom.

Carefully pour a smaller amount of orange batter in the middle. You can use a spoon to gently spread the batter, but don't mix it.

Keep going, in rainbow order, with each circle getting smaller.

Finish with a dollop of purple in the middle.

In the second pan, use the remaining divided batter, but go in reverse rainbow order. This part was a little taxing on my brain. "Purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red?" Then bake according to the instructions, but don't overbake, or the colors start to fade.

I wanted a taller cake, so I made a second box of batter and repeated the whole process after the first batch came out of the oven, for a total of four layers.

Recruit the cutest bed-headed, bowl-licker you can find to help you clean up.

My layers weren't all the same size, and some were really rounded on top, so after icing between each layer, I covered it with a sheet of parchment paper, and placed a heavy stone pan on top for several hours. This compressed and flattened each layer, which I think makes for a prettier finished cake.

I covered the entire cake with white icing (it creates a more dramatic reveal once it's cut), and added two rows of M&Ms. Again with the, 'red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.' And yes, you'll eat just as many M&Ms as you put on the cake. Make peace with it. And if you're decorating it at midnight the night before the party, the candies won't be straight. Make peace with that, too.