It all started when 2-year-old Leo said he wanted a, “big big big big big big rainbow birthday cake,” for his 3rd birthday.
Leo is the current heir of JR Dessert Bakery. His mom (Natalie) runs the bakery alongside her mom (Leo’s grandma (aka JR)). Each year they look forward to his birthday and the cake they get to make for it.
Surprised that Leo knew exactly what he wanted this year, Natalie got to work on dreaming up the perfect birthday cake for her soon to be 3-year-old.
She sketched up an idea and checked in with her lead decorator to make sure it was a sound plan. For all those who don’t know – JR Dessert Bakery is all natural, which means they don’t normally use food coloring or fondant in or on their desserts. However, exceptions are always made for “Little Leo.”
They opted for a seven-layer 10” cake base to represent all the colors of the rainbow. Natalie’s husband, Mike, is a stickler for details and reminded her of ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, ivory and violet). Many cake makers cut out the ivory. Mike wanted it in.
A mix of yellow cake was made and divided into seven bowls. A touch of Chefmaster food coloring was added to each. 1.7 lbs. of the colored batter was deposited into 10” pans (although less could be used). The thick layers were baked, popped and frozen. The cake was stacked and frosted with JR’s famous cream cheese buttercream frosting with a thin layer between each color. A plastic rod was cut and inserted into the middle of the cake to support the weight (approximately 15 lbs. at that point). The top edge of the cake was piped with rainbow colors to match the layers inside and the bottom 3” were decorated with nonpareils. To finalize the cake Natalie ordered a custom fondant rainbow cake topper from MagicalCakesAnSweets on Etsy, which came with four decorative clouds.
Natalie setup all her birthday decorations the night before and woke up extra early to put the cake in place for Leo’s big surprise. That morning he ran into the living room with a look of pure joy and was shocked by his “big big big big big big rainbow birthday cake.” It was the perfect way to kickoff celebrations on his special day.
