Do you have a bunch of leftover jelly beans from an Easter egg hunt? Well, I have the perfect way to use them up! I would love to be able to tell you that I was “using mine up” but, no, I went to the Bulk Barn (I should have frequent flier miles there) and bought all brand new jelly beans for this project.
I absolutely adore this cake. I think that it is beautiful, and the shock value of the inside is second to nothing I have seen. I contemplated using vanilla cake, but I felt the darkness of the chocolate cake really accentuated the bright vibrancy of the buttercreams.
Now, I am a buttercream LOVER, but if you aren’t (what is wrong with you?!) you can make the layers of the buttercream thinner but only making one stripe for each ring. But, if you do that, keep in mind that your cake will not be as shocking when you cut into it. The point of a cake like this is to make it look amazing when it is sliced into . . . and for it to taste amazing!!
I went with an outer colour of white buttercream for the cake to mimic a cloud like appearance . . . did I achieve that!?! Haha. I also think that the white makes a clean slate for the jelly beans to sit on nice and brightly!
I hope you enjoy this cake, I know I loved making it!
Inside Out Rainbow Cake
This cake will make enough to serve 16-20 people, depending on how thick you slice the pieces. It is approximately 8″ high.
Ingredients:
- Three 8″ chocolate cakes
- Coloured buttercream (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple)
- White Buttercream
- Jellybeans (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple)
- Wilton tip 2A (or any round open tip)
Procedure:
- Bake and cool cakes. Prepare buttercreams and place each individual colour into a piping bag with a 1/4″ of the tip snipped off with scissors.
- Place bottom cake layer onto cake plate and secure with a swipe of buttercream. Using the purple buttercream first, apply a ring of buttercream around the outer edge of the cake, about 2 centimeters wide. Repeat with a second layer on top of the first layer.
- Next, switching to blue buttercream, apply a ring of buttercream inside the purple buttercream ring, and complete one blue ring around the cake. Repeat with a second layer of blue on top of blue.
- Repeat with green. Then repeat with yellow. Then repeat rings with orange, and finally fill the centre in with red buttercream.
- Place second cake layer on top of the buttercream rings.
- Repeat coloured rings on top of the second layer, just as it was done for the first-starting with purple on the outside, and working towards the centre (red). When completed, place the third layer of cake on top, ensure the cake is straight up and down, and then place in the freezer to solidify the buttercream.
- Once the buttercream has solidified, you can cover the cake entirely with the white buttercream, using a metal cake spatula. Ensure the top and sides are smooth.
- On the top of the cake, take the purple jelly beans and make a ring around the outer edge of the cake like what was done earlier with the purple buttercream ring. Repeat with a second ring of purple jelly beans.
- Using the blue jellybeans, make a ring around the inside of the purple jelly beans. Repeat with a second ring of blue.
- Repeat rings with green, then yellow, orange and finally red.
- Using your leftover buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a 2A tip and pipe small round balls or icing next to the purple jelly beans around the top as a border.
- Repeat the same technique for the bottom border of the cake.
- Allow cake to thaw before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Notes:
If you are using a different sized cake pan, you will likely have to pipe a different width of buttercream for the rings.
The key to keeping the layers thick is to freeze the cake for about an hour or more after the coloured layers are all piped.
So for st. Patrick’s day I was going to make a leprechaun hat cake and this would be a great look inside! My question though is that I use fondant for the outside for most of my cakes so usually after I put my icing in between the layers of the cake I push down then put them in the freezer, I do that so when I’m putting fondant on my cakes don’t shift. So my question is do you think that will affect the outcome of what it looks like?
Hi there! Love this cake and the vibrant colors in it. If I were to use 9″ cake pans instead about how much more buttercream would I need to make? An additional batch of your recipe?
Thanks!
It depends on how thick you make the icing. I always have way more than I need on hand so that I don’t run out and have to match colours.
Hello from Ireland! My 4 year old son is obsessed with your channel – so thank you! He’s changed his mind from a Ninja birthday party to a rainbow one on the basis of your cakes. I’m just wondering, which Americolors do you use to get the perfect rainbow colours? I want to order some, but there’s a lot of choice!
Hi Jen, i doing aparty for my son next week&really loved ur jelly bean rainbow cake…he loves jelly beans…only problem is i could not find out how to make the buttercream…and the food colorings did u find all the colors or did u need to mix some ie:to get purple??? Thanx 4 ur help
Thanks for commenting…good luck with the cake! The recipe for the buttercream is linked in the post (in the directions) I use Americolor gel paste to get my colours and they all come in a package.
Hi,
I really like your videos and your recipes 😉 But I have a question,how did you do your chocolate cakes,i mean they are very dark and that’s nice 🙂 thanks!
It’s a recipe that will be in my cookbook….so stay tuned!
I made this cake and wow everyone loved it!! Thanks!!!
Great to hear that! Thanks for watching.
I personally think that this will become a great cake to give to some one who loves cake, jellybeans and rainbows or colorful things.
What would be a good alternative for jellybeans on the top? ‘Cause I’d like to make this someday but I’m not a fan of jellybeans.
Do you make an entire batch of buttercream frosting for each color?
I used about a 1/4 of a batch for each colour.
Where do you get your measuring tool that you use for measuring out your nutella or corn syrup?ive seen it on your channel it looks like a big syringe what’s that called?
Sorry I also wanted to ask if you add the white americolor gel paste to your buttercream or if it is just a natural white colour xx
I add Americolor white when I want my buttercream blindingly white, but you don’t have to. You can also use clear vanilla instead of dark vanilla and it remains fairly bright.
Thanks for all your help, absolutely love your channel x
Hi Jenn I was wondering when you make your inside out rainbow cake with the chocolate cake, is this just your normal chocolate cake recipe?because it looks a lot darker than the recipe for your chocolate cake on you tube, I’m going to try and make this cake so want to be sure on the sponge, thanks xx
Hi! You can find the similar recipe in the Oreo cake video (minus the Oreos) but for the exact one, it’s being kept under lock and key for the release of our cookbook that I’m working on.
Hi. Love your blog and you tube channel I subscribe to. How do you get such bright vibrant colours in your icing? I use the Americolor gels and even if I used the whole bottle mine wouldn’t come out that bright. Such an awesome looking cake.
I definitely don’t use the whole bottle, so I’m not sure why you’re not finding the colours bright enough. I love my Americolor gels and I always recommend them to people for bright colours. Sorry I can’t really help! Thanks for watching and subscribing.