BUTTERCREAM BLUE AND GREEN BIRTHDAY CAKE RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 (8-inch) round cake pans or spray with baking spray. Set aside.
• Combine flour, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt in bowl; set aside.
• Beat sugar and 1 cup butter in another bowl at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla; mix well. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating at low speed after each addition, just until mixed.
• Divide batter evenly among 6 bowls with about 3/4 cup each. Tint cake batters red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Spread red and orange batter into prepared pans. Bake 8-10 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 3 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely. Meanwhile, wash pans; grease and flour pans. Repeat with remaining colors until all cake layers are baked.
• Beat 2 cups butter in medium bowl at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt alternatley with whipping cream and 1 tablespoon vanilla, beating at low speed until well incorporated. Beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Remove 2 cups frosting; set aside. Divide remaining frosting evenly among 6 bowls with about 1/3 cup each. Tint frostings red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Set aside.
• Place purple cake layer onto serving plate, bottom-side up. Frost top with 1/4 cup white frosting. Place blue cake layer over frosting; frost with 1/4 cup white frosting. Continuing adding green, yellow, orange and red layers in that order, frosting with 1/4 cup white frosting between each layer. Frost outside of cake with remaining white frosting. This layer of frosting will be thin and cake will be visible through frosting. Once frosted, refrigerate cake 30 minutes. (This is called a crumb coat and will prevent crumbs from interfering when piping rosettes.)
• Place each tinted frosting into individual resealable plastic food bag; push frosting to one corner. Cut off 1/2 inch from tip of corner. Place 18-inch-long piece of plastic food wrap onto counter surface. Pipe each color onto plastic wrap to form wide 12-inch horizontal lines (using all of frosting) that are touching.
• Gently roll frosting lines into one large log using plastic wrap. Snip tip off one end of plastic wrap. Place cut-side down into piping bag fitted with size 1M open-star tip. Pipe rainbow rosettes onto cake beginning with middle of top of cake and working out and down sides so the most vibrant colors are on top of cake.

Steps:

• Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until soft, light, and creamy, 5–6 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed until well incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat to incorporate.
• Alternate adding the milk and dry ingredients a little at a time, starting and ending with the flour. Beat until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Do not overmix.
• Evenly divide the batter between 6 small bowls, about 1 cup each. Dye each bowl with one color of food coloring.
• Grease 6 6-inch round cake pans, or as many as you have, with nonstick spray. Add each color cake batter to a prepared baking pan (working in batches if needed) and tap the pans on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack and let cool for another 15 minutes.
• While the cakes bake, make the vanilla simple syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and vanilla and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and transfer the syrup to a heatproof container. Let cool completely.
• Make the cheesecake buttercream: Add the cream cheese and butter to a large bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer on low speed until light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat to incorporate.Gradually sift in the powdered sugar and continue beating until fully incorporated. If the frosting seems too thick, add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Transfer about 2 cups of frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Set the remaining frosting aside in the bowl.
• Assemble the cake: Brush the cakes with the vanilla simple syrup.
• Use a 2-inch round cookie cutter to remove the centers from each cake layer, except the red cake.
• Set the 6-inch cardboard cake round on a turntable and pipe a dab of frosting onto the round. Place the purple cake on top of the board. Pipe buttercream around the top and top with the blue cake. Repeat with the green, yellow, and orange cakes. Fill the center of the cake with the assorted sprinkles, then top with the red cake.
• Use an offset spatula to lightly frost the entire cake with the reserved buttercream to create a crumb coat. Transfer to the freezer to firm up, about 15 minutes.
• Remove the cake from the freezer and evenly frost the entire cake with a thick layer of buttercream.
• Carefully hold the cake over a container or baking dish (to catch any fallen sprinkles) and coat the entire cake with the nonpareil sprinkles. (If you’re having trouble getting the sprinkles to stick, brush the frosting with a bit of the simple syrup and try again.)
• Slice the cake and watch the sprinkles rush out.
• Enjoy!