Rainbow Pinwheel Party Cake

My current obsessions:

Cucumber melon candles–I feel like I’m living in a gigantic honeydew.

Gerbera daisies, per usual. The brighter the better!

…but tulips are having a Hayley moment as well.

Breakfast smoothies with peach in them, which is weird, considering I loathe peaches.

The banana bread French toast I made for breakfast over the weekend with from-the-box banana bread mix (whatever, naysayers) and fried up all purrrty and golden with some buttah, fresh naners and maple syrup. I die.

Butterflies. I miss mine.

The sunny weather California had for all of 48 hours before the downpours returned. I can’t complain since A) my allergies don’t act up in the rain; and B) I’ll be sweatin’ balls in a couple months, but I really enjoyed going sweaterless for awhile.

Cocoa butter lotion, preferably the $1 kind by Queen Helene at Walmart. Um, amazing.

…and pastel nail polish. I’m wearing Wet & Wild “On A Trip” and loooove it. Think a brighter lavender.

Oh, who am I kidding? I’m loving pastel-anything. I’m still swooning over my mint jeans purchase. Next up, I want bubblegum pink and yellow and teal… The possibilities, people!! Candify your gams!

This “beauty elixer” by Orofluido. Smells like cake & makes my hair sooooper shiny, bro.

My (new) side-swept bangs! Okay, so I’ve had them for ages now, but I was having serious issues that they had mental problems and continued their attempts to make me look like John Travolta in Old Dogs. FINALLY, before I was milliseconds from lopping off my bangs completely, I went to a local salon and she trimmed and styled them–providing a free, extensive lesson on blow-drying–for $5. I couldn’t be happier.

PESTO SAUCE. Dude, my blood-type is becoming pesto. I want it on everything.

Wedding stuff on Pinterest… specifically, carnival-esque weddings. When I told my mom I wanted a carnival wedding, she laughed out loud and said, “that’s why young people shouldn’t get married.” I made this face 😐

Rainbows! Always in style. In the sky, in your hair, in your clothes, for birthday parties, and duh, for truffles, cupcakes, and this Rainbow Pinwheel Party Cake. Obvi.

So let’s talk rainbow cake for a minute: I don’t know why, but whenever I make rainbow cake/cupcakes/truffles, it always tastes better than anything else I make. I’m convinced the very fact that it’s rainbow adds a magical quality during the baking process, or perhaps I’m hopped up on food dye. Whatever it is, it makes for the densest, best cake EVER.

Take a hike, other cupcakes; there’s no contest here. Swear it. Stuff’s legit, man.

I think you should make some for yourself to, you know, test my claim. I think you’ll be pretty happy with the results. And as usual, you’ll think I’m right (I always am).

Also, who else loves pinwheels? (Raises hand) Get some HERE.

Rainbow Pinwheel Party Cake

1 box white cake mix, plus ingredients on back of box
1 small box sugar free/fat free vanilla instant pudding mix
Pink, teal, lemon yellow, golden yellow and violet Wilton gel food colors
About 1 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar
A scant 1/4 cup milk
1 tsp orange extract
Sprinkles
Pinwheel picks, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Liberally grease a bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, prepare the cake mix according to package directions. Stir the box of pudding mix into the cake batter until combined. Portion the batter evenly among four bowls. Tint one bowl pink, one bowl light yellow (using lemon yellow), one bowl a soft purple, and one bowl teal. (Reserve the golden yellow for the icing).
3. Start by dropping colors into the bundt pan, one by one. I started with yellow, spooning about a scant 1/4 cup of batter into the pan and moved it to cover the pan with a rubber spatula. Then I topped that with some pink, followed by teal and purple, then repeated the process until all the batter was gone. Remember, you’re just layering the colors–not swirling–and this will give you the tye-dyed, rainbow effect you’re after. Swirling will muddle the colors, so avoid that.
4. Bake the cake for approx. 25-30 minutes, checking frequently to avoid overbaking. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out mostly clean, and the sides are light golden brown. Cool for about 20 minutes in the pan, and when still slightly warm, gently invert and release the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. For the glaze, mix together the powdered sugar, milk and orange extract in a small bowl until a thick glaze is formed. Tint the glaze orange with the golden yellow food coloring.
6. Using a spoon, glaze the top of the cake. Top with sprinkles, if desired. Allow glaze to harden before sticking the pinwheel picks into the cake, if desired. Store leftovers airtight for up to 2 days.

The orange extract provides such a wonderful, fresh flavor in contrast to the dense, fluffy white cake. Feel free to use lemon extract, almond, or even vanilla if you wish. Just send me a slice if you do so I know it’s still the best, of course.

Raise your hand if you love rainbow pinwheel cakes! (Raises both hands & both legs) Raise your hand if you maybe ate three slices for dinner and one for breakfast the following morning! (Raises hand tentatively) Raise your hand if you have zero self-control! (No need to; it’s no secret).

I hope you have a wonderful day, my friends!!

xo, Hayley

May be linked to:  Trick or Treat Tuesdays, Crazy Sweet Tuesdays, Dwell On Friday, Sweet Treats Thursdays, Tuesday Talent Show,  Sweets for a Saturday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday