How to Make a YW Value Color Layered Cake

 Ellen, one of our YW advisers, recently taught the young women how to make a rainbow layered cake with the layers in the YW value colors.   I loved how it turned out and since then have been asked by a couple of other people, who had seen the pictures of it,   if I could post the instructions on how to make it.  I think it would make a perfect dessert for a Young Women in Excellence or other special YW night.   I recreated it for my son's birthday (not divulging to the boys that the colors were the YW value colors) to make sure that I got the instructions correct and to get pictures of each step.  I was surprised at how easy it was to make it myself and  loved to see the boys reaction to the cake, which was every bit as animated as the young women's had been.  Enjoy!  

Click here for printable recipe. 

The ingredients:


CAKE  (the ingredients listed are if you are using a Duncan Hines white cake mix.  If using another brand, prepare as directed on that box.)
2 boxes white cake mix
6 egg whites
2 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
food coloring (you'll need at least the primary colors)   
at least one 9-inch round cake pan and parchment paper

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
1 cup butter
8 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1+ Tbs. milk (until good frosting consistency has been reached)

Directions:
CAKE:  Mix together the cake as directed on box.  Divide the batter evenly among seven small bowls (if you're using a double Duncan Hines cake mix it should be about a heaping cup of batter in each bowl).  Dye each bowl of batter your desired color.  


You will have to be liberal with the food coloring in order to get it bright enough.  Read the box of food coloring to get an idea of amounts.  For the gold I added some extra yellow to the orange. 

Here are the YW value colors:   

FAITH--white (frosting)
DIVINE NATURE--blue
INDIVIDUAL WORTH--red
KNOWLEDGE--green
CHOICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY--orange
GOOD WORKS--yellow
INTEGRITY--purple
VIRTUE--gold

After each bowl of batter is mixed well and dyed to your desired color, add to a greased 9-inch circle baking pan with parchment paper lining just the bottom.  Spread batter evenly to the edges and pound pan on counter top to get rid of any air bubbles that may remain. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 9-minutes. 

Repeat for each layer. 

Allow each layer to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then carefully remove from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.  After layers are cool, wrap in plastic wrap and place on a flat surface in a freezer.  It's okay to stack them.

This picture does not reflect the correct final order of colors

Allow to freeze for 1 hour or more, then place the color of layer you want on the bottom onto a cake platter.  For the YW value cake, I placed them in reverse order  (gold on the bottom, then purple, yellow, orange, green, red, then blue on top.  The frosting is the white.) 

FOR FROSTING:  Mix all ingredients together, adding a tablespoon of milk at a time until the right consistency is reached. 

Frost each layer liberally to the edge of the round and place the next layer on top until you've reached the top layer. 

Frost tops and sides of cake. 

If you have time, do a light layer of frosting over the whole cake, then place in the freezer for 1-2 hours, then refrost with a pretty layer of icing. 

If you don't have time to do a second coating, just frost it the best you can. 

To serve, cut into slices and wait for the oohs and aahs! 

Enjoy!