Rainbow Bundt Cake
The surprise rainbow found inside this easy Rainbow Bundt Cake when you cut it open is so much fun! Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, spring or a rainbow themed party. This semi-homemade recipe is an easy rainbow dessert that’s delicious.
I love a cake with a good hidden surprise. King cakes have the baby, lava cakes have a molten center, and this cake has a beautiful rainbow inside! This rainbow bundt cake is the perfect themed dessert for St. Patricks Day, spring, or a fun rainbow themed party.
In fact, if your kid want’s a rainbow (or unicorn!) themed birthday, you can make this cake, these rainbow cupcakes, and do a craft like a tissue paper rainbow flower or this rainbow sun craft! There’s so many fun ways to use this cake, and it tastes amazing too!
Why You’ll Love Rainbow Bundt Cake
- This recipe for rainbow cake is really easy to follow, but yields a cake that it bakery-style quality!
- Rainbow pound cake is made from a cake mix, so there is less mess and less ingredients needed.
- This easy rainbow cake recipe can be customized to whatever color and flavor you desire!
Ingredients for Rainbow Pound Cake
- Pound cake mix – Any brand of pound cake mix will work! Since this is a mix for pound cake, the bundt cake will be a bit small. If you’d like a large cake, feel free to double the recipe! Just add extra bake time.
- Vanilla pudding mix – This will not only add some flavor to the cake, but it also helps keep the cake moist.
- Large eggs – Eggs help provide structure to cake.
- Half and half – If you don’t have half and half, you can use a mixture of heavy cream and milk. 2% milk will work too!
- Salted butter – I prefer to use salted butter in this easy rainbow cake recipe, but unsalted butter will work too. Just add a pinch of salt with it.
- Food coloring – Choose whichever colors of the rainbow you’d like! I used red, yellow, green, and purple.
- White vanilla frosting – You don’t have to use white frosting! Any color of any flavor will work just fine. Make sure that it is thin enough to drip down the sides of the cake.
Helpful Tools
How to make Rainbow Pound Cake
In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat together the pound cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, half and half and melted butter with a hand mixer or stand mixer. Mix until thoroughly combined and the batter is thick.
Remove 1/3 cup of cake batter and place it into a mixing bowl. Add red food coloring and mix until you have the desired shade you want.
Repeat this process with yellow dye, green dye, and purple dye.
Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray and then scoop 3/4 of the plain cake batter into the pan. Smooth it out gently until it is evenly spread out.
Add your red cake batter to a piping bag or sandwich bag and cut off the tip. Pipe the red batter in a circle in the center of the plain batter. Using a spoon or silicone spatula, spread out the red batter but leave about 1/2 inch around the edges.
Do the same thing with each color of batter until all have been added.
Take the remaining plain batter and gently scoop it on top of all of the colors, or use a piping bag to pipe it on.
Once the cake is baked, allow it to cool for 10 minutes and then turn it out onto your desired serving dish or cake platter.
After the rainbow pound cake has completely cooled, mix together the frosting and half and half until it is a pourable consistency.
Gently pour the glaze over the cake and let it slowly drip down. Top with rainbow sprinkles and serve!
Storage Tips for Rainbow Bundt Cake
You can store this rainbow cake at room temperature, loosely covered, for up to 3 days.
FRIDGE: To make it last a little longer, store it in an airtight container or cover it tightly and store it in the fridge.
FREEZER: To freeze rainbow cake, wrap individual piece in plastic wrap and keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
What kind of bundt pan should I use?
No matter what bundt pan you use, make sure it is good quality! A heavyweight, aluminum, bundt pan will help your cake bake evenly and will hold up for many many uses. If you don’t have a bundt pan, try making this Rainbow Layered Cake instead.
And be sure that with any pan, you spray it well right before you add your cake batter. Don’t spray it early and let it sit, or the oil will run down and pool in the bottom of the pan.
Pro Tips for the Best Rainbow Bundt Cake
- To keep your rainbow looking perfect, I highly recommend piping the last layer of regular cake batter on. By piping it, you can better control the thickness and spread out the batter evenly, then use a spatula to even it out.
- Be sure to let your cake cool for 10 minutes before turning it out on your serving dish. If you do not allow it to cool 10 minutes, it can rip or tear when you try to turn it out. But, don’t let it sit much longer than 10 minutes either! Otherwise it could stick in some areas.
- Get adventurous with this easy rainbow cake recipe! Change up the rainbow colors, the icing flavor, the sprinkles, etc. and make this pound cake exactly what you want!
At the end of this rainbow, there’s only more cake! I don’t think I’ll complain about that!
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Want another great use for cake mix? Try these Cake Mix Cookies with only 4 ingredients!
- If you’re looking for some healthy snack ideas, give this Berry Smoothie a whirl!
- Jell-O Jigglers are a fun favorite around my house.
- These Chocolate Covered Frozen Bananas are a great ice cream alternative for a sweet treat in the summer.
Rainbow Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 16 ounces pound cake mix
- 3.5 ounces vanilla pudding mix
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup half and half
- ¼ cup salted butter melted
- 4 colors of food coloring I used red, yellow, green and purple
- ½ cup white frosting
- 2-4 Tablespoons half and half
- Rainbow sprinkles optional garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You will be using a bundt pan but will want to grease it just before pouring the cake into it so do not prepare it yet.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl use a hand or stand mixer on low to beat together the pound cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, half and half and melted butter just until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Beat the mixture for an additional 1-2 minutes or until it is a thick, light batter.
Remove ½ cup of the batter and place it into a small mixing bowl and add red food coloring. Mix well until you have the shade of red you desire. - Remove another ⅓ cup batter and do the same with the yellow food coloring.
- Remove ⅓ cup of batter, place in a small bowl and add the green coloring.
- Finally, remove one last ⅓ cup and add the purple coloring.
- Spray the bundt pan well with cooking oil and then scoop ¾ of the plain cake batter into the pan and gently even it out with a spatula or spoon.
- Place the red batter into a piping bag or disposable sandwich bag and cut off a small amount of the tip.
- Pipe the red batter in a circle in the center of the bundt pan. Use a spoon to gently spread it out, leaving an edge of about ½ an inch, between the red batter and the edge of the pan.
- Repeat the process with the yellow batter, using a spoon to spread it out but leaving a thin edge of the red showing.
- Repeat again with the green and then the purple batter. You should be able to see a little of every color and all of the purple batter.
- Gently scoop the remaining plain batter onto the top of the colored batter, or use another piping bag to pipe it on and spread it into an even layer with a spoon.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes and then turn it out, gently, onto a cake platter or serving plate.
- After the cake has cooled completely, about 45 minutes, mix together the frosting and half and half until you have a thick pourable glaze.
- Gently pour the glaze over the top center of the cooled cake and allow it to slowly drip down the cake.
- Serve garnished with rainbow sprinkles, optional.
Notes
- To keep your rainbow looking perfect, I highly recommend piping the last layer of regular cake batter on. By piping it, you can better control the thickness and spread out the batter evenly, then use a spatula to even it out.
- Be sure to let your cake cool for 10 minutes before turning it out on your serving dish. If you do not allow it to cool 10 minutes, it can rip or tear when you try to turn it out. But, don’t let it sit much longer than 10 minutes either! Otherwise it could stick in some areas.
- Get adventurous with this easy rainbow cake recipe! Change up the rainbow colors, the icing flavor, the sprinkles, etc. and make this pound cake exactly what you want!
- FRIDGE: To make it last a little longer, store it in an airtight container or cover it tightly and store it in the fridge.
- FREEZER: To freeze rainbow cake, wrap individual piece in plastic wrap and keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
