Pastel Rainbow Birthday Cake (2024)

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This simple and pretty Chocolate Vanilla Raspberry Pastel Rainbow Cake is perfect for birthday celebrations.

updated post from 2011

HOW TO MAKE PASTEL RAINBOW CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CAKE

To make this cute rainbow cake I paired delicious moist chocolate cake with a homemade raspberry cake filling and cream cheese frosting. It’s so good!

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chocolate Cake
Raspberry Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting
Fill the Cake
Crumb coat the cake
Frost the cake
How to frost pastel rainbow cake
Homemade rainbow sprinkle mix
Pipe Rainbow Frosting Stars
Decorate cake with sprinkles and rainbow stars
How long does the cake keep?
Recipes

I decorated top with homemade rainbow sprinkle mix and simple piped rainbow stars.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

To make this pretty pastel rainbow cake I used 2 baked 6-inch cakes that I trimmed and torted so I had a total of 4 cake layers that I filled with fillings.

First you need to bake chocolate cakes. Let them cool and trim the tops before filling and frosting the cakes. My easy chocolate cake recipe bakes 4 – 6 inch cakes, or 2 – 8/9 inch cakes. You can easily half the recipe and make only 2 – 6 inch cakes or bake all 4-6 inch cakes and freeze 2 cakes for later.

TIP : You can bake the cakes couple of days and even weeks before and freeze them. Let the cakes defrost overnight in the fridge before filling.

RASPBERRY FILLING AND CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

I love fruit fillings. Whether it’s tart fruit jam, lemon curd, raspberry curd or my easy to make delicious raspberry filling. Raspberry filling pairs wonderfully with moist chocolate cake and vanilla cream cheese frosting. So, let’s fill the cake.

TIP : Find recipes at the bottom of this post. And Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe is listed in the recipe card.

FILL THE CAKE

Spread a little bit of cream cheese frosting onto the cake board and then place first chocolate layer on the cake board. Spread a generous spoonful of raspberry cake filing onto the cake, (step 1-8).

Take a small cookie scoop and place 3 scoops of cream cheese frosting onto chocolate cake with raspberry layer. Spread the frosting over the cake in one even layer. Repeat layering cake, raspberry filling and cream cheese frosting, (step 1-5).

Cream cheese frosting tends to be on a softer side and so Idecided to also place a support inside of the cake. Just in case cake layersdecided to shift a little. I used a drinking straw as a cake dowel. Insert a drinkingstraw in the center of the cake. Then trim the excess with scissors, (step6-8).

CRUMB COAT THE CAKE

Crumb coat the cake and seal in all the cake crumbs. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the top and sides. Smooth it with a spatula and chill the cake until ready to frost with pastel rainbow frosting, about 2 hours.

TIP : If frosting gets too soft and cake layers seem to be sifting, chill the cake for 20 minutes before crumb coating.

FROST THE CAKE

Divide about 3 cups of cream cheese frosting into 7 bowls. Color 6 of those with gel food colors. Leaving 1 portion uncolored ( I used this portion to frost the top of the cake). To make the pastel frosting colors only add little bit of food coloring. More you add more intense the color will be, (step 1-4).

Fill the piping bags with colored cream cheese, (step 5-8).

HOW TO FROST PASTEL RAINBOW CAKE

To frost the top of the cake I used white uncolored cream cheese frosting on the top and pastel rainbow cream cheese frosting on the sides.

First spread a layer of white frosting on the top. Smooth itwith a spatula.

First take a piece of paper and measure the height of thecake. Then divide the height number by 6, number of rainbow colors. Then with atoothpick mark the sections onto the cake, (step 1-4).

Start piping red rainbow cream cheese frosting at the bottom all the way to the marked section. And then continue piping remaining rainbow colors, finishing up with purple frosting, (step 1-4).

TIP : Cream cheese frosting can become too soft. If that happens I’d recommend that you chill the cake for 10-15 minutes before you try smoothing it. Cream cheese doesn’t behave like Swiss or American buttercream. Cream cheese frosting is more flexible. And it is a bit harder to smooth it out completely. This is okay. Don’t worry about it too much.

Smooth the sides with a flat icing comb. Wipe the edge cleanafter each time, (step 1-2).

Smooth the top by bringing the icing inwards with a spatula,(step 3-4).

HOMEMADE RAINBOW SPRINKLES MIX

This chocolate raspberry birthday pastel rainbow cakewouldn’t be complete without rainbow sprinkles.

I decided to make my own rainbow sprinkles. It’s super simple. Into a bowl pour yellow, purple, green and pink jimmies sprinkles and stir well to combine. Aren’t they pretty?!

RAINBOW FROSTING STARS

To make rainbow stars pipe rainbow frosting onto a food wrap and form it into a pouch, (step 1-6).

DECORATE PASTEL RAINBOW CAKE WITH SPRINKLES AND RAINBOW STARS

Once the cake was frosted I spread a layer of rainbow sprinkles on the top. You can use a spoon to press the sprinkles into the frosting a little so they don’t wander around. Leave a border of ¾ inch.

With a prepared rainbow frosting pipe rainbow frosting stars close to the edge.

HOW LONG DOES THE CAKE KEEP?

Store the cake in the fridge, if possibly loosely covered. Cake keeps in the fridge for up to a week. Let it come to room temperature before serving.

TO MAKE PASTEL RAINBOW CAKE YOU NEED

RECIPES
Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe – you only need 2 baked cakes (trimmed and torted = 4 cake layers) to make this Rainbow Pastel Cake. You can half chocolate cake recipe or make 2 – 8/9 inch cakes, or freeze cakes you won’t use for later
Raspberry Cake Filling
Cream Cheese Frosting – in the recipe card
TOOLS
Find all the tools in my Amazon Shop
Cake Turntable
Piping Bags
Star Piping Tip
Cake Board
Food Wrap
Rainbow Sprinkles
Spatula

MORE RAINBOW DESSERTS :

Rainbow Leopard Cake Roll
Italian Rainbow Cookies
Funfetti Cutout Cookies
Meringue Rainbow Cookies

Print Pin

Pastel Rainbow Chocolate Raspberry Cream Cheese Cake

Makes 1- 6 inch cake or 1 slightly shorter 8 inch cake

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cream cheese frosting, pastel rainbow cake, rainbow cake

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Author Hani Bacova

Ingredients

CHOCOLATE CAKE

1/2 batch Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe – check notes

RASPBERRY CAKE FILLING

1 batch Raspberry Cake Filling Recipe – check notes

VANILLA CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

2 pkg full fat cream cheese at room temperature (1 package is 226 grams)
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature (1 stick is 113 grams)
7-8 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 tbsp whipping cream o heavy cream
pinch of salt

Instructions

VANILLA CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

With a paddle attachment in a bowl of your mix cream unsalted butter (2 sticks and 1/2 stick) for 2 minutes. Then gradually beat in room temperature cream cheese (2 pkg, 2 packages are 452 grams). Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Gradually beat in powdered sugar (7-8 cups) alternating with heavy cream (4 tbsp). About 5 minutes. Lastly beat in Vanilla Extract (2 tsp).
TIP : Sift powdered sugar if it has lumps.
Cream cheese frosting doesn't firm up like all butter buttercream. It if it is too soft chill the frosting covered for 20 minutes.
Color frosting with concentrated gel colors. Avoid using liquid colors.

Notes

Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe :
You only need 2 to baked chocolate cakes (trimmed and torted – total of 4 cake layers) to make this Rainbow Pastel Cake, you can half chocolate cake recipe or make 2 – 8/9 inch cakes, or freeze cakes you won’t use for later.
Raspberry Cake Filling

CAN I USE STORE BOUGHT RASPBERRY JAM ?

Absolutely.

This post was originally published on July 25th, 2011. On March 5th, 2020 I updated this post with new step by step photos and written text.

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