Learn how to make this bright and festive rainbow drip cake that’s colorful inside and out.
This rainbow drip cake is made with soft layers of funfetti cake, vanilla rainbow buttercream and white chocolate dripping down the sides.
The funfetti cake is a delicious semi-homemade cake that’s so easy seriously anyone cake make it. Then it’s stacked with bright rainbow vanilla buttercream. It’s a fun surprise when you cut into it!
Next, the sides are covered in vanilla buttercream and white chocolate drip.
This white chocolate drip recipe is perfect for any drip cake. It’s made using only two ingredients, and comes together in less than five minutes! It can be made in any color, using colorful candy melts.
Finally, this cake is topped with a simple buttercream technique called the rope border with alternating of the bright rainbow colors!
What I love most about this cake is how you can take simple baking and cake decorating techniques and turn them into an impressive cake!
Tips for success:
- Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.
- You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Simply wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month.
- You can make the buttercream a day ahead and refrigerate it overnight. Then take them out to come back to room temperature. Make sure the buttercream is at room temperature before re-whipping.
- A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three, 8-inch cake layers.
- Be careful not to overmix this cake batter or else the cake will come out dense. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Food coloring gets darker over time, so it’s best to add food coloring gradually.
- Place the cake on top of a baking sheet to easily put sprinkles on the cake without making a mess.
- Serve cake at room temperature.
What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Cake:
- 3, 6-inch cake pans or 2, 8-inch cake pans
- Offset spatula
- 8-inch or 10-inch white cake board
- Serrated knife or cake leveler
- Turntable
- Bench scraper or cake scraper
- Piping bags (I use silicone reusable bags)
- 6 – Ateco #844 Star piping tip or Wilton 1M
- Squeeze Bottle
- Whisk or flour sifter
- Rubber Spatula
- Non-stick cooking spray and parchment paper
- Ice Cream Scooper with Trigger Release (for dividing cake batter evenly)
- Cake Stand, optional
- Baking sheet
- Super red gel food coloring
- Orange gel food coloring
- Lemon yellow gel food coloring
- Electric green gel food coloring
- Royal blue gel food coloring
- Electric purple gel food coloring
- Funfetti Rainbow Sprinkles
Let’s Get Decorating!
How to Make Foolproof Funfetti Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the cake mix, all-purpose flour, and salt. Set aside.
- In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
- Turn the mixer on low and add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
- Add the vanilla and milk, beat on low until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Finish by adding the remaining flour mixture and mix on medium for another 30 seconds. Add funfetti sprinkles and mix by hand.
- Evenly distribute the cake batter among the three cake pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Remove cakes from the oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely. Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.
How to Make Rainbow Vanilla Buttercream
- In the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Turn the mixer to low, add vanilla, salt and gradually add the powdered sugar, followed by the cream. Mix until incorporated completely. Scrape the sides of the bowl down.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat the frosting for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer on low and mix for 2 minutes to push out any air bubbles.
- Reserve half of the white buttercream to save for crumb coating. Divide the other half the white buttercream among six small bowls; color each bowl with gel food coloring. Make red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple colored buttercream.
- Put each colored buttercream into six prepared piping bags with star piping tips.
How to Make White Chocolate Drip
- In a medium glass bowl, melt white chocolate candy melts in the microwave by heating in 30-second increments, stirring in between until fully melted.
- Mix in warm water to the melted chocolate with a rubber spatula. Mix until combined and streak-free.
- Pour the chocolate into a squeeze bottle for decorating. If chocolate drip hardens then heat in the microwave for 5-10 seconds, shake or stir to make all the same temperature.
Putting It All Together
- Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the dome of the cakes to make the layers flat and even.
- Add a small amount of buttercream onto the center of the cake board. Layer the chilled funfetti cake, cut side up onto the cake board.
- Pipe a ring of red buttercream in the center of the cake, followed by a ring of orange, yellow, green, blue and purple buttercream to the outside edge of the cake.
- Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for another layer — Crumb coat with the white buttercream and freeze for 30 minutes.
- Then add a thicker layer of white buttercream and smooth the sides out using a cake scraper. Freeze for 30 minutes.
- Drip the white chocolate drip over the sides and pour over the top, use an offset spatula to smooth out.
- Then squeezing the red piping bag and moving your wrist into a circle you will create the to swirl. Start the next color buttercream on the middle of the previous swirl, repeat the process using all the prepared colored buttercream until the top of the cake is covered with the rainbow rope border.
- Add the funfetti rainbow sprinkles on the bottom of the cake. Serve and enjoy!
You May Also Enjoy:
- How to Foolproof Funfetti Birthday Cake (recipe)
- Ice Cream Cone Drip Cake (tutorial)
- How to Cut & Serve Cake (free guide)
- How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)
- Cake Decorating for Beginners (online course)
Now you know how to make this super fun rainbow drip cake. It’s perfect for birthday parties, summer events or the holidays! This rainbow drip cake uses simple techniques to create a beautiful cake!
My goal is to help you become a better and more confident baker, let me know in the comments below what’s your #1 baking and cake decorating problem?
Happy Decorating!
Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out, Cake Decorating Creator Program, my online cake program. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s important to learn from the ground up to build a foundation, so you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/creator-program. I will see you there!
Watch The How-to Video Below:
Rainbow Drip Cake
Ingredients
Foolproof Funfetti Cake
- 1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 whole eggs
- 1 box Vanilla Cake Mix, sifted (Duncan Hines)
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup confetti or rainbow sprinkles
Rainbow Vanilla Buttercream
- 3 cups (or 6 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
- Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, & Purple gel food color
White Chocolate Drip
- 6 ounces (or 1 cup) white chocolate candy melts
- 1 ounce (or 2 Tablespoons) warm water
- 1/2 cup confetti or rainbow sprinkles, for garnish
Instructions
Foolproof Funfetti Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the cake mix, all-purpose flour, and salt. Set aside.
- In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
- Turn the mixer on low and add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
- Add the vanilla and milk, beat on low until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Finish by adding the remaining flour mixture and mix on medium for another 30 seconds. Add funfetti sprinkles and mix by hand.
- Evenly distribute the cake batter among the three cake pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Remove cakes from the oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely. Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.
Rainbow Vanilla Buttercream
- In the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Turn the mixer to low, add vanilla, salt and gradually add the powdered sugar, followed by the cream. Mix until incorporated completely. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat the frosting for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer on low and mix for 2 minutes to push out any air bubbles.
- Reserve half of the white buttercream to save for crumb coating. Divide the other half the white buttercream among six small bowls; color each bowl with gel food coloring. Make red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple colored buttercream.
- Put each colored buttercream into six prepared piping bags with star piping tips.
White Chocolate Drip
- In a medium glass bowl, melt white chocolate candy melts in the microwave by heating in 30-second increments, stirring in between until fully melted.
- Mix in warm water to the melted chocolate with a rubber spatula. Mix until combined and streak-free.
- Pour the chocolate into a squeeze bottle for decorating. If chocolate drip hardens then heat in the microwave for 5-10 seconds, shake or stir to make all the same temperature.
Assemble
- Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the dome of the cakes to make the layers flat and even.
- Add a small amount of buttercream onto the center of the cake board. Layer the chilled funfetti cake, cut side up onto the cake board.
- Pipe a ring of red buttercream in the center of the cake, followed by a ring of orange, yellow, green, blue and purple buttercream to the outside edge of the cake.
- Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for another layer — Crumb coat with the white buttercream and freeze for 30 minutes.
- Then add a thicker layer of white buttercream and smooth the sides out using a cake scraper. Freeze for 30 minutes.
- Drip the white chocolate drip over the sides and pour over the top, use an offset spatula to smooth out.
- Then squeezing the red piping bag and moving your wrist into a circle you will create the to swirl. Start the next color buttercream on the middle of the previous swirl, repeat the process using all the prepared colored buttercream until the top of the cake is covered with the rainbow rope border.
- Add the funfetti/rainbow sprinkles on the bottom of the cake. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Be careful not to overmix this cake batter or else the cake will come out dense.
- Food coloring gets darker over time, so it’s best to add the food coloring gradually.
- A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three, 8-inch cake layers.
- Serve cake at room temperature.
- Place the cake on top of a baking sheet to easily put sprinkles on the cake without making a mess.
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