Rainbow Tie-Dye Surprise Cake (2024)

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Prep 2 hr 0 min
Total 9 hr 0 min
Servings 18

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Bright and colorful, this surprise cake is a fun way to celebrate birthdays (or any occasion) and will definitely impress your friends and family!

by: Hungry Happenings

Updated May 24, 2022

Ingredients

4 boxes (16 oz) Betty Crocker™ Pound Cake Mix
Eggs, butter, and milk according to package instructions
Neon food coloring
1 tub (12 oz) Betty Crocker™ Whipped Fluffy White Frosting
28 oz fondant (your choice of colors)

Steps

1

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 16x4x4.5-inch loaf pan with non-stick aluminum foil or grease with shortening and dust with flour.
2

Make cake batter using two cake mixes, according to package instructions. Divide batter in 5 bowls. Color one bowl neon orange, one bowl yellow, pink, blue and green.
3

Pour batter into disposable pastry bags or zip top bags. Drizzle colored cake batter, alternating colors into the pan until you use all the batter. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove air bubbles.
4

Bake for 70-80 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for 20 minutes, then remove and set cake on cooling rack and cool completely. Cut cake into 1-inch thick slices.
5

Lay slices flat on a baking tray and place in the freezer for at least one hour. Cut numbers out of cake slices. Save cake scraps for another use, and place the number pieces back in the freezer.
6

Clean and prepare the loaf pan as before. Make the remaining two cake mixes according to package instructions. Pour a thin layer of cake mix into the loaf pan. Pour remaining batter into an 18-inch pastry bag or a gallon-size zip top bag.

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7

Line the number 5s in a single row down the center of the pan, piping batter into the pan as needed to keep the number pieces straight.
8

Pipe the remaining batter into the pan and on top of the numbers. (Be sure to mark which direction the numbers are facing and keep track of this while decorating, so you know which end of the cake to slice into and have forward-facing numbers.) Smooth the top of the batter and bake for 70-90 minutes, rotating pan 180° after 40 minutes, until a skewer or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
9

Remove cake from oven and allow to cool 20 minutes before removing from pan. Let cake cool completely (this may take up to 2 hours) and cover with whipped frosting, making the surface as smooth as possible.
10

Color fondant in a variety of neon colors. Roll individual pieces of the colored fondant into logs. Press the logs together. Twist and fold to create a marble effect. Press fondant pieces together.
11

Roll out to a 24x15-inch rectangle.
12

Cover cake with fondant.
13

Create a border using a different color fondant.
14

Serve the cake and slice into it, revealing the numbers.

Nutrition Information

168.0 Calories, 0.2g Total Fat, 0.3g Protein, 41.1g Total Carbohydrate, 39.2g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving

Calories: 168.0

Total Fat: 0.2g; 0%

Saturated Fat: 0.1g; 0%

Cholesterol: 9.1mg; 3%

Sodium: 8.3mg; 0%

Potassium: 5.1mg; 0%

Total Carbohydrate: 41.1g; 14%

Sugars: 39.2g

Protein: 0.3g

% Daily Value*:

Calcium: 0.30%; 0%

Iron: 0.30%; 0%

Exchanges:

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

More About This Recipe

This surprise reveal cake can easily be personalized for any number birthday or occasion, and is easier to make than you'd think. With its size and scope it'll take you all day to create, but don't worry – most of that time is spent waiting for cakes to bake and cool. When you see your guests ooh and ahh over your cake, you’ll know it was totally worth it! You'll be baking two separate cakes, starting with the tie-dye cake. To start, whip up two batches of the Betty Crocker Pound Cake Mix then divide the batter into several bowls and color each bowl using neon food coloring. I chose to make pink, yellow, orange, blue, and green, but you can do any colors you like. Let your inner artist come through and drizzle layers of colored batter into a 16x4x4.5-inch loaf pan. I lined my pan with non-stick aluminum foil for easy removal, but you can grease it with shortening and dust it with flour if you prefer. Keep drizzling in colored batter until you use it all up. I found it easiest to put my batter into pastry bags and pipe it into the pan. You could use zip-top bags if you don't have pastry bags, or you could simply drizzle it with a spoon. There's really no right or wrong way to do this step. Bake the cake and allow it to cool completely. While it's cooling, clean out your pan and prep it the same way for your second cake. Once the cake is cooled, cut it into slices that are just slightly thinner than your number cookie cutter (I used a 5). Pop the slices in the freezer for at least an hour, until they feel frozen and firm. Remove slices from freezer and cut one "5" out of each slice, then put them back into the freezer. You will have a lot of scraps, which could look really cool in a trifle or parfait, but they also make tasty little snacks just as they are. While your numbers are chilling, whip up two more batches of cake mix and pour a thin layer of it into the prepped loaf pan. Put some of the batter into a large pastry bag or gallon-size zip-top bag
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