[jamdonut]

Wow.

I was actually considering paying a couple of hundred dollars to have a rainbow cake made for DD's birthday party. Now I'm thinking I could do it myself for a lot less!

My oven is awful though - it's not fan-forced, so the majority of the heat radiates from the top. My cakes always end up hugely domed in the centre. Does anyone have any tips for baking cakes evenly so the centre doesn't rise?

[faerychild]

Thankyou all !!! I think I might just use the ones from the supermarket that a few of you have used. Im not really a cake maker type of person, LOL Im a packet mix person. But for a birthday I'll make the effort so $48 worth is too much for us.

I might do a test run actually and see how it goes.

Will post a photo :-) Sarah_Jane yours looks great.

[boyohboyohboy]

Wow.

I was actually considering paying a couple of hundred dollars to have a rainbow cake made for DD's birthday party. Now I'm thinking I could do it myself for a lot less!

My oven is awful though - it's not fan-forced, so the majority of the heat radiates from the top. My cakes always end up hugely domed in the centre. Does anyone have any tips for baking cakes evenly so the centre doesn't rise?

If my cakes are too high in the oven they'll do this... try a lower shelf.
My oven is also not a fan forced one.

[CocobeanLillylov...]

Wow.

I was actually considering paying a couple of hundred dollars to have a rainbow cake made for DD's birthday party. Now I'm thinking I could do it myself for a lot less!

My oven is awful though - it's not fan-forced, so the majority of the heat radiates from the top. My cakes always end up hugely domed in the centre. Does anyone have any tips for baking cakes evenly so the centre doesn't rise?

You could try baking them at a lower temperature.
I was told to always bake cupcakes at 150 degrees rather than 180 like the recipes often suggest. This would help keep a flat top rather than a dome. So not sure if this theory applies to one large cake but it has worked for me with cupcakes

[*cough*]

Wow.

I was actually considering paying a couple of hundred dollars to have a rainbow cake made for DD's birthday party. Now I'm thinking I could do it myself for a lot less!

My oven is awful though - it's not fan-forced, so the majority of the heat radiates from the top. My cakes always end up hugely domed in the centre. Does anyone have any tips for baking cakes evenly so the centre doesn't rise?

You could also make a layered rainbow cake like THIS then you can cook the layers individually and saw off the top of them to make them even.

Let me know if you want the directions, it's actually really simple but you do need to 'construct' it carefully, freezing the layers in between. PM me if you would like them.

[busymum01]

I usually by the AmeriColor gel dyes from US Ebay for a song - are they on par with the Wilton gels?

[LifeGoesOn]

Ohhh I wanna try this, silly question but do the colours not mix together when you add them to the tin or is that part of the appeal (non uniform layering I mean).

[EssentialBludger]

Hi OP, I made a very simple rainbow cake for my sister birthday earlier this year. I just used the first vanilla cake recipe I found on google (taste.com.au I think it was), decided it into portions, and added a few drops of normal food coloring. You could even use packet mixes.

It doesn't look as nice as thatcone, but I think it looked ok. Very cheap too! Under $10.

[pundelina]

...Does anyone have any tips for baking cakes evenly so the centre doesn't rise?

Wrap the outside of your cake tin in a few layers of damp towelling. That encourages the outside to stay cooler and let it cook evenly so the cake stays flat on top.

I cut 3 pieces from an old handtowel to the right length to wrap outside the cake tin and I fasten them on with a safety pin after I wet them just before baking.


(Beware of cake mixes that fill the tin though, they need to dome or else they'll mushroom over the edge at the top. I learnt that one the hard way the other day )

Rainbow cakes are awesome, but it cost me a heap for the dyes too. Worth it

This post has been edited by pundelina: 08/10/2011, 10:53 PM

[Guest_BeachedAsBro_*]

Melfunktion is making one tonight for her daughter's birthday and I know Doppelganger made one for her daughter's last birthday. They look awesome. I want to make one for Evie next year and put Cookie Monster on the top