This naked pastel rainbow cake recipe is the best way to celebrate spring and summer ever! Tender, moist cake is layered with just the right amount of sweet, buttercream frosting.
Nake cakes are one of my favorite desserts. I love cake, but I'm not a fan of so much frosting that you lose the flavor of the cake. With naked cakes like this one, you get the perfect amount of cake and frosting in every bite.
Pastel Rainbow Cake Recipe
This was inspired by my other naked cake recipe on this site and makes a great dessert after this amazing chicken thigh recipe.
Ingredients
You only need a few basic ingredients to make both the cake and the frosting. You'll find them all easily at your local grocery store.
For the Cake
- Softened butter
- Sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Egg whites
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Milk
- Red, orange, yellow, green, and blue food coloring
For the Frosting
- Softened butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla
- Milk
- Sprinkles of your choice
See the recipe card at the end of the post for quantities.
How to Make a Pastel Rainbow Cake
As layered cakes go, this one is incredibly easy to make. It's a very simple recipe when you break it down into steps. Even beginners can make this one.
Step 1: Prep
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then, coat five 8-inch round baking pans with a thin layer of nonstick spray and thin layer of flour.
Step 2: Combine the Wet Cake Ingredients
Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Then, add the vanilla and egg whites and beat again until smooth.
Step 2: Add the Remaining Ingredients
Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and milk and beat until the batter is smooth.
Step 3: Separate and Color the Batter
Divide the batter evenly into 5 bowls. Then, add different food coloring to each bowl respectively until you have 5 differently colored batters. Stir well until the color is uniform in each bowl.
Step 4: Bake
Transfer each colored batter to a baking pan. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Step 5: Cool
When the cakes are done, let them cool in their pans for 15 minutes. Then, flip them out onto wire cooling racks to cool completely. You may need to use a knife to release the edges.
Step 6: Make the Frosting
Cream the butter and powdered sugar together in a medium mixing bowl. Then, add 2 tablespoons of milk and vanilla and beat well. Adjust the frosting using milk and powdered sugar if the frosting is too thick or thin respectively.
Step 7: Assemble the Cake
Place the blue layer of cake on a serving plate, then frost it with buttercream. Repeat this process with the green, yellow, orange, and red layers. Finally, top the frosting red layer with sprinkles.
Hint: Be sure you thoroughly cover the inside of your cake pans with spray and flour. Any spot that isn't covered can cause your cake to break apart when you try to flip it out.
Substitutions
Don't have the correct ingredients on hand or want to change something up? Here are some helpful tips for you to change this pastel rainbow cake recipe.
- Cake Flour - For an even more tender cake, try using cake flour.
- Heavy Cream - You can use heavy cream in place of milk for this recipe.
Variations
Want to personalize this naked pastel rainbow cake recipe? Here are some of my tried and true tips for changing up this recipe.
- Your Favorite Cake - Make your favorite cake flavor for this recipe.
- Any Colors - You can adjust the colors for this cake to make it work for almost any holiday.
If you love recipes like this, you may also enjoy this rainbow cake roll or this Rainbow Cheesecake!
Equipment
You'll only need some basic kitchen equipment to make this recipe.
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk or hand mixer (preferred)
- Cake pans
- Frosting knife or spatula
Storage
You can store this cake in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. For longer storage, you can freeze this cake for up to 6 months.
Tips
This cake is quite easy to make, but I do have some tips here that will make it even better and easier for you.
- A hand mixer is your friend for this recipe. It makes things so much easier.
- Be sure your cake pans are thoroughly coated with nonstick spray and flour to prevent sticking.
- Be sure you let your cake cool completely. Even a slightly warm cake will not frost correctly.
More Cake Recipes
Do you like cake? Here are some recipes you may also like to try.
FAQ
Do you have questions about naked pastel rainbow cake? Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about this rainbow pastel cake recipe.
Christina Tosi, owner of Milk Bar is credited with first making naked cakes around 2014.
It will last for about a week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.
Place the cake on a plat with parchment paper and open-air freeze it for about 4 hours. Then, tightly wrap it in a double layer of cling wrap and then a layer of foil.
Place it in the refrigerator overnight.
Naked Pastel Rainbow Cake Video
Ready to get cooking? Remember that you can print this recipe if you would like.
Naked Pastel Rainbow Cake
Equipment
- Whisk or hand mixer (preferred)
- Frosting knife or spatula
- Wire racks
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 large egg whites
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- food coloring red, orange, yellow, green, and blue
- cooking spray
Frosting Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-3 tablespoon milk
- Sprinkles of your choice
Instructions
- Get out and measure your ingredients.
Cake Directions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together.
- Add vanilla and egg whites. Beat again until smooth.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add milk. Beat again until batter is smooth.
- Separate batter into 5 separate bowls. Add one of the five food coloring colors to each bowl. The amount you add will depend on the type of food coloring you are using. Stir well until colors are even.
- Prepare 8-inch round baking pans by coating them with cooking spray and a thin layer of flour. Tap pan to remove excess flour.
- Transfer each color of batter to a prepared baking pan.
- Cook each colored layer for 15 minutes
- or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- When done baking, allow them to cool for 15 minutes before flipping them out of the pans on to a rack. You may need to use a knife to release the edges. Allow them to cool completely before frosting them.
Frosting Directions
- In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar together.
- Add 2 tablespoons of milk and vanilla. Beat well. (If it is too thick, add more milk. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar.)
- Until just right.
Assembly Directions
- Place the blue layer of cake on your serving plate.
- Cover it with a layer of frosting. You will need to spread five layers of frosting, so be sure to use only enough to cover the surface of each layer.
- Continue this with the green, yellow, orange, and red layers. Add sprinkles of your choice to the top.
- Slice.
- Serve.
- Enjoy every bite.
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