For the Kid In All of Us {Rainbow Cake}

One of things I love about living in Mexico is that there is always something to celebrate.  And today is not the exception.

Today is a particularly festive day all throughout Mexico and in the Limón household.  It is El Dia del Niño (Children's Day). 

In our family, the kiddies get the day off.  No chores.  No homework.  They have the entire day to do as they please.  And they decide what we will be having for lunch...an extra large pizza with pepperoni, chorizo and jalapeño peppers.

Our Dia del Niño celebration wouldn't be complete without a cake.  This year, my kiddies chose a Rainbow Cake.  I made them one for St. Patrick's day and they loved it so much that they requested it again for El Dia del Niño.

Making a rainbow cake couldn't be easier.  You start with a box mix, prepare according to package directions and color the batter with food coloring.  See?  Piece of cake.  (Pun totally intended.) 

Before we start, let's talk about food coloring.  I recommend that you use gel food coloring.  You get great color results and it won't water down your batter like using the liquid food coloring.

If you're like me and your living in a small town in Mexico, where gel food coloring isn't available, fear not.  Just head to one of the local mom & pop farmacias (pharmacy) and ask them for pintura vegetal.  It's powdered food coloring and comes in tiny brown paper envelopes in a variety of colors including: Azul (blue), Verde (green), Rojo (red) and Amarillo Huevo (egg yellow).  And best of all it's very inexpensive.  I bought 8 envelopes for 4 pesos.  (Less than 40 cents). 
   

Rainbow Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 box Betty Crocker French Vanilla cake mix
• 1-1/4 cups water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• Gel food coloring (red, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple)
• White Frosting 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare the cake mix according to package directions.

Divide the cake batter into 6 bowls.  (About 3/4 cup of batter per bowl.)

Tint the cake batter with food coloring.

Pour the cake batter, one color at a time, into the center of a greased and floured cake pan.  I started with the purple, then continued to pour each color of batter directly into the center of the previous color.

I used two 9-inch rounds, but you could also use one 10 x 3 round pan. 
 

Bake at 350F, according to package directions.  I baked my two rounds for 25 minutes.

Fill and frost with your choice of frosting.  I prefer using a cream cheese frosting, but for this particular cake, I used ready made white frosting.  (Gasp!) (Hangs head in shame.)  In my defense, my electric mixer died on New Year's and I'm hoping the "kiddies" will gift me a new one for Mother's Day.   

Enjoy!!!

And watch how your kiddies will gobble this cake right up!