Double Rainbow Swirl Cake

(from Ryan77’s recipe box)

Source: Joanne Fluke

Categories: Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/2 cups softened butter
  • 2 cups white (granulated) sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 8 ounces white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup unflavored yogurt
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups cake flour
  • 1 - 3oz pkg raspberry Jell-O powder
  • 1 - 3oz pkg orange Jell-O powder
  • 1 - 3oz pkg lemon Jell-O powder
  • 1 - 3oz pkg lime Jell-O powder
  • 1 - 3oz pkg berry blue Jell-O powder
  • 1 - 3oz pkg grape Jell-O powder

Directions

  1. Generously butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. (Don’t use Pam or any other nonstick cooking spray)

  2. Beat the softened butter and white granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy.(You can mix this cake by hand, but it takes some muscle.)

  3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until they’re light and fluffy. Make sure they’re well mixed.

  4. Soften the cream cheese in a microwave-safe container on HIGH for 1 minute. Let it sit in the microwave for 1 minute longer without heating.

  5. Add the white chocolate chips, the half-cup unflavored yogurt, and the salt.

  6. Heat the mixture you made on HIGH for 1 minute more and again, let it sit in the microwave for 1 minute. Then try to stir it smooth with a heat-resistant rubber spatula. If you can’t stir it smooth, heat it in 30-second increments with 30 seconds of standing time until you can stir it smooth.

  7. Add this to the contents of your mixing bowl. Beat until everything is thoroughly combined.

  8. Add the baking powder and the vanilla extract. Mix until they’re incorporated.

  9. Add the cake flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition. Mix until the resulting batter has no lumps.

  10. Divide the cake batter into 6 smaller bowls.

  11. Open the first Jell-O package and add 2 Tablespoons of the raspberry Jell-O powder to the batter in the bowl. Mix until it is thoroughly combined and the red color is deep and even.

  12. Repeat with the next 5 Jell-O flavors, adding 2 Tablespoons of the orange Jell-O powder to the 2nd bowl, two Tablespoons of the lemon Jell-O powder to the 3rd bowl, 3 Tablespoons of the lime Jell-O powder to the 4th bowl, 2 Tablespoons of the berry blue Jell-O powder to the 5th bowl, and 2 Tablespoons of the grape Jell-O powder to the 6th bowl.

  13. Set up the packages of Jell-O that are left over and stick them in your pantry to use for the next Double Rainbow Swirl Cake you make.

  14. To prepare your Double Rainbow Swirl Cake for baking, begin with the raspberry Jell-O bowl (the red one). Use a soup spoon to empty it in a puddle in the 1st layer cake pan near the outside edge of your cake.

  15. Throw away the bowl if you used a paper bowl or rinse it out in the sink if you didn’t.

  16. Move on to the 2nd bowl flavored with lemon Jell-O (the yellow one). Use a soup spoon to empty that bowl in a puddle next to the raspberry puddle.

  17. Move on to the 3rd bowl, the orange one. Spoon out the batter in the puddle on the space that remains in your cake pan.

  18. Here comes the fun part. Pick up your cake pan and stand at the counter near your sink. Hold the pan up about 4 inches from the surface and then drop it on the counter. This will “settle” the batter. (I’m not really sure you have to do this, but it’s fun!)

  19. Leave the cake pan on the counter and take a table knife from your silverware drawer. Insert the tip of your knife about 1-inch from the inside edge of your pan. Run the knife around in a circle, dragging it against the bottom of the cake pan, but don’t close the circle. Instead just jog up 2-inches or so to start another circle. You’ll be making a spiral that ends in the center of your cake pan. Don’t make too many circles. You don’t want the cake batter to mix into the other colors too much. Three spirals is just about right for this size of cake pan.

  20. Move on to the empty layer pan. Using the same technique, make puddles from the green, blue, and purple bowls. When you have your 3 colored puddles in the pan, drop the 2nd layer pan, “settle” it the same way you did with the 1st layer pan.

  21. Use the rinsed table knife to repeat the swirling process with your 2nd layer pan.

  22. Bake your layers at 325°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or thin wooden skewer inserted one inch from the center of the pan comes out clean and the top if a light golden brown.

  23. Cool in the pans on a wire rack or on a cold stovetop burner for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the inside edges of the pans to loosen the cakes. Then turn them out on a wire rack.

  24. After the cakes are completely cool, it’s time to frost your cake.

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