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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Rainbow Cake

Saturday was my daughter's third birthday. She had a rainbow-themed party, which made me immediately think of the Rainbow Cake (a.k.a. Jello Poke Cake) my Grandma used to make when I was little. The recipe is simple. The process is so colorful and fun. Fun for kids to help with, or you can just do it yourself. The result is crowd-pleasing and super pretty.

Can a three-year-old's birthday cake get much better than cake, jello, pudding and Cool Whip? I'm not sure, but I don't think so. It felt a bit like something out of Willy Wonka making the different Jellos and pouring them into and onto the cake. And of course we served it with - what else? - rainbow sherbet.
Rainbow Cake
(a.k.a. Jello Poke Cake)
  • 1 white/yellow/vanilla cake mix (and the ingredients to make it - I substituted buttermilk for the water but otherwise followed the box instructions)
  • Several different flavors of gelatin (small boxes) - or just one if you're feeling monochromatic
  • Cool Whip or whipped cream for topping
  • Vanilla pudding, optional, prepared
  • Colored buttercream frosting for rainbow decoration, optional
1. Make the cake in a 9x13 pan according to box directions. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Make lots of holes by poking cake with a the handle of a wooden spoon, or I prefer to use a straw.

2. Dissolve each flavor of gelatin in 1 cup boiling water. Drizzle all over cake, making sure it goes in the holes. You don't have to use all the gelatin but be fairly generous. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Jello will set in the cake.
3. If desired, spread a layer of cooled vanilla pudding on the cake. Then spread with Cool Whip to complete. Decorate as desired. Serve. (Refrigerate leftovers.)Recipe from Grandma Cummings

4 comments:

  1. tonaJanuary 28, 2010 at 1:04 PM

    Mm, pretty! Did you color Cool Whip and pipe the rainbow?

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  2. Disco MomJanuary 28, 2010 at 1:53 PM

    No, Mom and I decided that would run too much. I made regular vanilla buttercream and spooned a little into 6 baggies with food coloring, then squeeze-mixed and cut the corner off and piped it. By the end of the party, the colors were starting to run a little into the cool whip so it doesn't last long.

    ReplyDelete
  3. LeslieJanuary 28, 2010 at 5:14 PM

    Too cute!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ShellsApril 11, 2010 at 4:22 PM

    We made a jello poke cake tonight and when I was explaining it to the kids (before making it) they couldn't understand. So I showed them these pictures. And that meant they begged for a rainbow. Too bad for them I didn't have the stuff to make that happen! We are eating it tomorrow and they can't wait.

    ReplyDelete