Rainbow cake layers – 6 1/2 cups/790 g cake flour not self-rising, sifted – 3 tablespoons baking powder – 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt – 2 1/4 cups/500 ml whole milk – 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract – 1 1/2 cups plus 4 tablespoons/395 g unsalted butter room temperature – 2 1/2 cups/490 g granulated sugar

– 10 large egg whites – Wilton or Americolor gel food colors: red orange, yellow, green, blue, purple

Vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream – 12 egg whites – 2 1/2 cups/500g sugar – 1/4 teaspoon salt – 2 1/2 pounds unsalted butter softened – 1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract Décor – 2 packages 12.4 ounces each Twizzler Rainbow Candy Twists – 3 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles jimmies – 36 gummy bears

– Make the cake layers: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. – Grease six 8-inch round cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment. If you don’t have six pans (understandably so) use as many as you have, and plan to wash them between baking cake layers. – Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Combine milk and vanilla. Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. With the mixer running, gradually add the 

sugar and beat until the mixture turns pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. – Reduce speed to low, and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Beat until just combined. Do not over-mix. Beat the egg whites in a clean mixer bowl on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter in three 

additions. Place two cups of batter in six separate bowls. Tint each bowl of batter with each of the food colors until a vibrant hue is achieved (start with 1/2 teaspoon color and increase as needed).  Fold the color in well with a rubber spatula until no streaks of white cake batter remains. Spread the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Let the layers cool completely on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edges of the 

cakes and the pans before turning them out. – Level the cakes with a serrated knife or a cake leveler so that the cakes are approximately 1 1/2 inches tall. Save the cake scraps for breakfast or snack on them now (smile). – Make the frosting: Set a saucepan filled one-third full of water over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. – Whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and salt in a large heatproof bowl (I suggest a 

stainless steel bowl). Set over the simmering water and whisk until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar has dissolved (120-140 degrees on a candy thermometer, to be sure). – Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. – Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Increase to medium-high until stiff peaks are formed. – Continue beating at medium-high speed until the mixture is 

fluffy and has cooled (the mixing bowl should feel cool to the touch). – Turn the mixer off and switch from the whisk attachment to the paddle. Turn the mixer on medium-low and add the butter, a few cubes at a time, beating until well incorporated before the next addition. – Add the vanilla extract. Beat until the frosting on high speed until it is thick and completely smooth.

– Important note about Swiss buttercream frosting! After a few pieces of butter are added to the whipped whites, the mixture will deflate. It may look like soup or even look curdled – do not let this discourage you. This is just one ugly stage the buttercream must pass through before becoming fluffy whipped frosting. – Frost the cake: Transfer 2/3 cup of frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small star tip; set aside. – Fill each cake layer with 1/3 to 

bottom, followed by the blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Cover the entire cake with frosting using an off-set spatula. – Decorate! Place a red Twizzler twist against the cake at a 45° angle so that it sticks to the frosting (you can also stand them vertically and trim the tops if you wish). Continue with an orange, green, blue, and purple twist. Carry on in this manner until the cake is completely covered. You will have 3-ish leftover twists left 

over (snack on them or save for another use). Use the reserved piping bag of frosting to pipe small stars along the top edge of the cake.  Position the decorator nozzle so that the icing also covers the tops of the candy twists; Sprinkle top of cake with rainbow jimmies. Place gummy bears upright in the frosting stars at the top edge of the cake in rainbow order. Add candles to the center of the cake, if appropriate for your celebration.

– How to slice: Cut the cake with a large chef’s knife at an angle between twizzler twists. – Cover the leftover cake loosely with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.