I will tell you something about what happens when you celebrate your Birthday in Germany :

Did you know that for Germans, it is considered as bad luck if you greet someone ahead  of their birthday? Oh yes, there is no such thing as advance birthday greetings ! By extension, a birthday party can never happen before the day itself, unless it’s a certified case of Reinfeiern, or “partying into your birthday” at midnight. The reason behind never saying happy birthday before the event is the superstitious worry that the person might die before their special day if you do. I told you, its kind of bizarre.

Also, the moment you give the present to the person celebrating the birthday, He or She will immediately open it in front of you, there’s no such thing as piling the gifts as customary in the Philippines. There are no lavish birthday bash either, heavily decorated-themed parties or costume party for the little ones,  nor food-coma. In short, no stress.  Sounds like the perfect birthday party after all, right?

 

It is not very common that someone give you a cake on your birthday.  Nope, you are the one who needs to buy it from the shop or make it by yourself. There’s not much bake shop here where there are arrays of ready-made cakes to choose from. On the first year of my daughter, we bought her a cake every single month! Yes that’s how vain I was, actually I did it all for her monthly photo sessions! Here in Bavaria, more often that you find those frozen cakes in the supermarkets like the infamous Black forest cake . I remember that in Kuwait and Philippines, it’s quite normal to give a cake as a present, more like a surprise, and a personalised present to the celebrant. On the other hand, Here in Germany,  expect to bring the cake once your colleagues drop the bomb “Alles gute zum Geburtstag “! Or better, bring on some few bottles of beer and curry wurst!

But we prefer, Bring on the Geburtstag torte! There’s no getting old about blowing some candles on top of your cake, especially if it’s on top of a RAINBOW CAKE!

Mind you, for the past months, these are just one of the things that I have observed here in Germany about birthday celebrations. Germans love to give best wishes on birthdays and will reward you with warm greetings, hand-made cards which I absolutely adore, and gifts. They are serious people but also very sweet. Different, but nevertheless good. Anyways, going back to my Cake talk, for the record, 4 days ago was my birthday.

Hooorraaahhh for another year!

So I thought it might be a great idea if I made a  post about the cake that I’ve bake, after all, what is  birthday without a cake???

I was really  looking forward to make my first “Rainbow  Cake”, YES, for the reason that when I asked my daughter what she wants on her 3rd Birthday, she blurted out to me in her sweet voice : “Rainbow cake! “ and so I searched how to do it. She’s very into colors nowadays but still I wonder where did she got this idea! I had a hard time looking for the baking ingredients especially the food coloring here, but finally I got what I needed from REWE .  I indulge myself in making this colorful, artsy, delicious cake. Quite challenging but then I enjoyed making this one since my little girl helped me out.

The soft, delectable buttermilk cake with vanilla frosting is perfect for a birthday treats and sure it was a hit for my family and friends. The layers of different vibrant colors in one fluffy cake  is such an attractive centerpiece and my daughter is so happy when she saw the pre-baked cakes in red, orange,yellow, green, blue and violet shades. She just kept on singing “yummy , yummy ” when she was spreading the frosting on each layer. After I’ve made this cake, I realized that everyone deserves to have at least one rainbow cake in their lifetime! Birthdays are such a happy occasion of celebrating life and looking at rainbow colors made me happy.

Don’t get intimidated, it might looked so complicated but  something that I’ve never done before so I was determined to try it. You just got to have the right ingredients and equipment and you’re all set. Easy-peasy. The reason why I wanna share the recipe of my Rainbow Cake because I find it really good and anyone can make it, especially for busy Mamas out there who wants to make a surprise to their kids. It is not complicated as it seems to be. I have received comments like “Did you really make that?”or “How did you make all those layers? “ Isn’t it too complicated ? I’m going to give you an answer — It’s worth to try this cake, it is so good that I think I’m a convert now to a Rainbow Cake maniac!

If you have time and want to try making this colorful cake, Here is my own version of an easy 6-Layer Rainbow Cake.

A sidenote: If you wanted a tall cake or depending on the size that you want, you can double the amount of ingredients to create the size and thickness of the cakes that you are going to make.

EASY 6- LAYER RAINBOW CAKE

INGREDIENTS :

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract ( I used vanillin sucker)

1 cup Buttermilk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

3 cups all-purpose flour ( I used Type 405 Weizen mehl)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Food coloring : Red, Yellow, Blue, Green and Purple

For the vanilla frosting:

12 oz. cream cheese ( I used Philadelphia, classic)

1 1/2 cups butter ( softened)

6 cups powdered sugar ( I reduced the amount to 3 cups only)

1 tsp. vanilla extract ( I used 2 packs of vanillin sucker)

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. Preheat oven  325 deg. F. ( or 162 C).
2. Grease and flour 6 pcs. cake pan ( 9″ (23cm)  cake pans ). I only have 3 pans so I did two rounds of baking the cakes.
3. In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until all blended using a hand mixer.
4. Mix eggs until thoroughly incorporated.
5. Add vanilla, buttermilk and the heavy cream.
6. Mix  the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
7. Put into the sugar /butter mixture half of the flour mixture and mix well until all ingredients are well blended. Add the remaining half of the flour mixture gradually.
8. Divide the batter into 6 bowls ( 1 cup each).
9. Add the food color to each bowl starting from red, yellow, green, blue and purple. Tip : To create a vibrant rainbow cake, make sure to put a good amount of coloring to create a lively color. For orange, add a vibrant yellow and add drops of red. For purple, combine red and add drops of blue.
10. Pour each colored batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
11.  Bake for 10-15 minutes in the preheated oven. Do not over bake.
12. Cool down the cake in the cooling rack.
13. While cooling down, make the cream cheese vanilla frosting.Cream the cream cheese and butter using a hand mixer.Add gradually the powdered sugar and vanilla.
14. Spread the frosting on the cake, first on Purple,blue,green,yellow, orange and finally the red cake.
15. Place a thin coat of icing to create a crumb coat and decorate as you please. You can add some colored rainbow sprinkles, jelly beans.
16. Chill the cake for a few minutes to hold the cake together with all the frosting.
17. For the icing, just whipped egg whites and powdered sugar until forming stiff peaks and spread out evenly to coat the cake for decorations. You can also coat it with colored icing as you please.
18. Don’t forget to give yourself a pat on your back for a job well done! Enjoy!

 

Just in case you are wondering about the Calorie content,  I must answer: What are you talking about? 

I leave you with a virtual piece of this fabulous cake. Thank you for reading and wishing everyone a great week ahead!

So tell me, do you have any weird Birthday traditions?  or have you ever made your own Birthday Cake? Feel free to share it in the comments!