Sarah Blackman is our guest blogger this week, and shares a wonderful Kitchen Squirrel recipe! This original Squirrel Girl has been a long time friend of House of Squirrels. Sarah currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia where she works as an actress, model, and dancer.  With her glamorous life in full force, Sarah also has culinary skills that can rival the best of the celebrity chefs! I have witnessed her kitchen wizardry and have been the recipient of her delicious dishes! HOS saw her Rainbow cake on Facebook and loved it! We asked her to guest blog for House of Squirrels with this amaze recipe…..here is an excerpt from Sarah on her Seven Layer Rainbow Cake’s coming out party:

“It is a seven-layer rainbow cake that I made with my best friend, Rachel, in October of last year.  The date fell in between our 31^st birthdays, which just happen to be two weeks apart.  She and I have been best friends since middle school. We used to get drunk and dance on tables to celebrate things, but now that we are getting older, we fancy a good culinary adventure as a means to celebrate.  In our 20’s, we confidently declared, “There is NO way I’m gonna be…  (Insert, ‘still single‘ or ‘living with our parents’) when I am thirty.”  And we meant it.  We doubtlessly swore that we would never be so uncool as to stay home and bake.  For fun.  Ever.

It is Rachel’s idea to make this cake and my idea to make it our dual celebration, but we both feel as if we need to make this cake.  Much more than a tasty treat, it is becoming abundantly clear that this cake is taking on a deeper meaning for the both of us.   Forging ahead on this project feels so right, but is this our pinnacle or our rock bottom?

You see, as she and I have experienced an onslaught of friends getting engaged, married and/or having babies, we find ourselves at that critical point of reflecting on our singledom.  It is as if getting married and having children is a club that we have not been invited to join, and we pretend that we don’t want the invitation.  But secretly, we do. When we catch ourselves saying, “When I get married…” we quickly correct the birth of that statement with an emphatic “If.” “I mean, ‘If’ I get married…”It’s not that I begrudge anyone their happiness, or resent their life choices.  I guess I just wonder: When do we get to celebrate mine?  In the meantime, I choose cake, seven magical layers of rainbow cake.  It’s my sonogram.  Look what I created.”  (To read more of Sarah’s story here is the link to 62nd Stories, which is a free crowdsourced online storybook.  http://62ndstories.com/stories/seven-layer-sonogram/)

Seven Layer Rainbow Cake Recipe:

Classic Buttercream

3 c. confectioners’ sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp

3-4 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream

1 Tsp. vanilla extract (organic is tastier)

Pinch of salt

Dash of glitter

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the confectioners’ sugar with the butter, starting on low and increasing speed to medium to a crumbly mixture for about a minute.  Add heavy cream, vanilla and salt and beat on high until smooth for about 3 minutes.

Cake

Use vanilla boxed cake mix but replace the oil with real butter, replace the water with milk, and add one more egg than it calls for. Divide the batter up into seven different bowls to start the dying process.  Add and mix up any colors that your heart desires.  Make sure to add the dye slowly as you can add more to make the colors more brilliant if they are too pale.

You will want to use two Spring form pans for baking, as the layers will be very thin and this will keep them from breaking when removing from pan.  Bake 2 layers at a time.  Let cool completely (This is extremely important.  Don’t get impatient, Squirrel).  Remove from pan and lay on wax paper on a cooling rack.  Repeat until all layers have been baked.  Once all layers are cooled, you are ready to start constructing your cake.

Put a layer of cake down and top with your icing.  Add another layer and repeat.  You may want to flip flop the way that you face the layers so your cake doesn’t slope down from the center. Once all layers are placed, ice the entire cake and decorate as you see fit.

What a fun cake to make for a party or with your children. Great for any festive occasion, a rainbow will always bring a smile to anyone’s face.

~Kisses Kitchen Squirrel