READY IN 1 hr

Rainbow Clown Cake

Read Reviews (217)

"I went a little overboard creating a fun confetti-ish cake for a student teacher and deemed the result 'Clown Vomit Cake.' Despite its nickname, it's a popular request now with my colleagues! Frost with your favorite frosting and top with colored sugar." — lovestohost

Directions

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.
Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until frothy, about 1 minute. Add the cake mix, water, and canola oil; continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed.
Divide the cake batter into six separate bowls. Use a toothpick to scoop a dab of food coloring into one bowl of batter and stir; add more food coloring, if necessary, to reach the desired shade. Repeat with the remaining colors and bowls of batter.
Scoop spoonfuls of batter into the prepared pans, alternating the colors. Use a toothpick to gently swirl the colors for a marbled effect.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes clean, about 30-35 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 30 mins
COOK 30 mins
READY IN 1 hr

Footnotes

Editor's Note:
Food coloring gels and pastes are more concentrated than liquid food colorings and are necessary for this cake. They are available at craft stores and specialty kitchenware stores.

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Mar 24, 2010

Made into cupcakes. I also did not swirl the colors at all. I wanted a very straight, uniform "rainbow" type effect. This was VERY NEAT looking. I also used the regualr liquid food coloring, not the gel type. If you only have the liquid type coloring, here is the ratio of drops to make each color. PURPLE is 9 R and 6 B. BLUE is 12 drops. GREEN is 12 drops. YELLOW is 12 drops. ORANGE is 12 Y and 4 R. RED is 18 drops. The red will look a bit pink but will turn out bright red when baked.

—My4boys

See full review »

Most Helpful Critical Review

May 10, 2010

Okay... I had a major issue with this cake.... The colors were wonderful and the marbled effect was really neat, but the second it was finished this funny smell washed over the room. My 4 year old son asked "Why did you make a cake out of playdough mommy?!?" and sure enough, after a quick testing, not only did it smell like playdough - it also tasted like playdough.... ew. Any suggestions as to what I might have down wrong?!?! I used a Duncan Hines white cake mix box and ....oh.... I used vegitable oil instead of canola. Do you think that would have made a difference? Either way, I'm dissapointed, because after all that planning and preparation.... I'll be buying a store bought cake for my husbands birthday tonight. :(

—Amanda

See full review »

275 Ratings

See other versions of this recipe!

Mar 05, 2010

I'm the recipe submitter (and I, obviously, love this cake!). If you have a favorite from scratch cake recipe, that works well, too! I no longer use the toothpick test; I prefer to gently press the top of the cupcake...if it *bounces* back-it's done (helps to prevent overbaking). These rock as cupcakes, too! These (in cake or cupcake form) are so simple to make, yet I've never taken them anywhere where they weren't "ooed" and "awed" over. Your friends and family will think you are a baking rock star when you show up w/these!

—lovestohost

See full review »

Mar 05, 2010

Made this back when she shared it on the Recipe Exchange. My kids flipped for it and we had a blast making it together. This is also good to use with a homemade white cake, if you'd rather not used boxed mix. GREAT recipe to make for Pride Week.

—Sarah Jo

See full review »

Mar 12, 2010

I first saw the "Clown Vomit Cake" mentioned in a blog, and HAD to try it, just for the name. i used a homemade pound cake, colored the batter with gel food coloring (about 7 different colors,) and baked it it a tube pan. What a hit! Make a glaze and use some fun sprinkles on top. I have since used this idea to make a "Santa Vomit Cake" for Christmas, using plain batter, red, and green. What a great idea this is..... You can use different colors for different holidays...... Red, White, and Blue would be great for the 4th of July. Thanks for such and neat idea (P.S. when you color your batter, you can just "plop" it in the pan. It will marble while it bakes!)

—gocoastl

See full review »

Apr 06, 2010

Made these for easter! I bought neon and regular gel food coloring because it was all I could find and the colors turned out amazing! We used pink, green, blue, orange, yellow and purple for the cake and neon green, blue for the frosting. I also bought colored sugar (we made this into cupcakes) and topped each one with the different colors. They turned out amazingly bright and everyone loved them. My sister actually wants me to make a cake like this for her birthday. If you make cup cakes, just pour about 2 cups of the batter into 6 different bowls and add the gel coloring.. blend together and dump a tablespoon of each color into the cups. Two boxes made 34 cupcakes.. half of which were gone 30 minutes into our celebration.

—serenadelorenzo

See full review »

May 03, 2010

My niece and I made these for her 7th birthday. We had a lot of fun mixing the bright colors. We layered the colored cake batter into muffin pans to make cupcakes and did not swirl the batter. To make layering easier I put the batter into sandwich baggies and piped it into the pan. I really thought the colors were going to be dull but was pleasantly surprised at how bright they turned out after baking. I frosted my cupcakes with Fluffy White Frosting from this site. Thanks so much, lovetohost, for such a fun colorful idea! I am sure we will be making these again.

—KGora

See full review »

Mar 22, 2010

Loved this cake! Great party cake....made this to bring to a family gathering last night and everyone was "amazed" when I cut and served this cake.....I used green, blue, yellow, pink and orange paste colorings.....Looked like "Spring".... great idea LTH.....everyone kept asking "how did u make this??"..... and my brother asked.."is this one of those AR recipes that you make?"....You betcha!!!! Thanks for a fun recipe and tasty too.... Thinking of Red White and Blue for Memorial Day and 4th of July! Topped this cake which I made in a 9x13 with Cool Whip Frosting from this site.

—SLJ6

See full review »

Edit

Glad you liked it! Your friends will, too:

Did you tweak the recipe? Edit and save your own version of it!

Edit this recipe

More Recipes Like This See all

Rainbow Cupcake Cones

Yummy Rainbow Cake

White Almond Wedding Cake

Fast and Easy Low-Guilt Cake

End of the Rainbow Cake

Brownie Batter + Cupcake = The SECOND BEST Cupcake. Ever

Rainbow Citrus Cake

Nairobi Chocolate Cake

Rainbow Cake

Black Walnut Pound Cake

Nutrition

Calories
309 kcal
15%

Carbohydrates
49.9 g
16%

Cholesterol
0 mg
0%

Fat
10.5 g
16%

Fiber
0.6 g
2%

Protein
4.2 g
8%

Sodium
446 mg
18%

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

Nutritional Information

Rainbow Clown Cake

Serving Size: 1/8 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 309
Calories from Fat: 94

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 10.5g 16 %
Saturated Fat 1.3g 7 %
Cholesterol 0mg 0 %
Sodium 446mg 18 %
** Potassium 96mg 3 %
Total Carbohydrates 49.9g 16 %
Dietary Fiber 0.6g 2 %
Protein 4.2g 8 %
Sugars 34.9g
** Vitamin A < 1 %
** Vitamin C < 1 %
** Calcium 16 %
** Iron 9 %
** Thiamin 15 %
** Niacin 12 %
** Vitamin B6 1 %
** Magnesium 3 %
** Folate 33 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.