After crossing out countless cake ideas, I finally decided on baking a cake that everyone loves, a vanilla cake. I wasn’t ready for any kind of failures when it was a cake for such an important day of my life.
I decided to look for cakes that would sit close to my principle recipe of a moist, cake that would just melt in your mouth with a frosting that would be so light that it’ll remind you of an ice cream yet won’t harden even when refrigerated (for I had planned on preparing the cake one day prior to Pari’s birthday).
Without much a do I present to you the Summer Spring Cake I baked for Pari. It has the bright tones of the spring flowers that Pari absolutely adores and the bright yellow base has been used to mark the sunshine smile she steals every heart with. I made it a point to exclude all blues (and purple) and it’s tints (for I wanted the cake to resonate my wishes for Pari), hence I am not using the traditional name, a rainbow cake.

The recipe has been adapted from Sinamontales.
Summer Spring Birthday Cake:

Difficulty Level : Easy
Ingredients:
For Cake:
- All Purpose Flour (Maida) – 1.5 cup
- Butter – 3/4 cup
- Sugar – 1 cup
- Baking Powder – 1 tsp
- Eggs – 3
- Milk – 3 tbsp
- Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
- Food Colors – 1 tsp each (I used red, green and yellow)
For Frosting :
- Unsalted Butter – 100gm
- Icing Sugar – 200gm
- Milk – 2 tbsp
- Vanilla extract – 1tsp
- Food Color for tinting -1 tsp (optional)
- Cadbury Gems – for decoration (optional)
Method:
- Heat oven at 180 degrees and grease an 8 inch round baking pan.
- Sieve flour and baking powder and set aside.
- Beat butter (at room temperature) and sugar till the mixture gets light and fluffy. It takes about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Beat one egg at a time alternating with the flour mixture.
- Add milk, vanilla essence and remaining flour till blended well.
- Divide the prepared mixture into equal parts (as many colors you wish to use). Add 1 tsp food color in each of the bowls and mix well. To prepare orange use half teaspoon of red and half of yellow.
- Use spoons of equal size to pour the mixture.
- Start pouring the mixture in the center of the baking tin, the colors will spread on it’s own as the batter flows.
- Once all the batter has been poured in the greased pan, tap the pan gently on the working bench to remove all air bubbles.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes till the toothpick comes clean.

Butter Frosting
- Make sure the cake is thoroughly cooled before frosting it. Once out of the oven let the cake cool for a while in the pan and then place it on a wire rack.
- In a bowl take unsalted butter at room temperature and beat till light and frothy.
- To this add sieved icing sugar in parts and continue beating well till all sugar is well dissolved.
- Add milk in parts to adjust the consistency.
- Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract and one teaspoon of food color of your choice (optional, I used yellow to give contrast) and beat till you get light peaks in your butter frosting.
- Using a spatula spread the frosting beginning in the centre of the cake and moving outwards. If it is too hot in your kitchen, stop midway, let the cake and frosting rest in fridge for a while before continuing.
- The frosting at times might feel too runny to handle, don’t panic and let it sit in the fridge for a while.
- Once cooled smoothen the frosting and decorate with gems and colored sprinkles.
Tip: This recipe can be used for any flavor cake of your liking (not for chocolate cake for obvious reasons) and using the color scheme as suggested.
For more recipes from my kitchen, visit my food corner.
Let’s have a birthday song to go with birthday cake recipe post.
Oh my! I love the colours!!! I just have to try this now. Maybe not with the frosting for weighty reasons but definitely the cake alone!!!
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Without the frosting too the cake looks and tastes awesome 🙂
Go for it PB 😀
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A bright & sunny looking cake with a wonderful surprise inside. Loved the birthday post! totally worth the wait 🙂
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Am glad you liked it S 😀
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awesome awesome awesome..super yummmm..the cake reminded me of the other cake I saw on Shruti’s blog…then I realised you both had the same source – Monika 🙂
it looks yummilicious.. 🙂
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Thank you RM 😀
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WOWO look at the colors
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I fell in love with them the minute the cake was cut, so did Pari 😀
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This is so lovely!
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Thank you bakearama ….welcome to my blog 🙂
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Absolutely love this one! For me it looks better than the rainbow cake..
I had been wanting to try tis cake for a long long time ME.. have got food colors too. But this is specifically for kids, as it appeals to me immediately. Having only S with me, I dont think it will interest him , thus skipped from implementing it 🙂
I will wait until the right time gets and come back here to try this recipe out 🙂
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meant to say *right time comes.. sorry 😛
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May the right time comes soon 😀 😀
Thank you GB for the sweet compliment 🙂
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Wow! That looks so very beautiful! 🙂 Perfect for the little one’s birthday. 🙂
BTW we recently got a rainbow cake to celebrate the OH’s birthday. Looked so lovely!
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Yay! I can imagine how much you OH would have loved the cake 🙂
Thank you dear 🙂
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Such a lovely cake and i am sure pari will be happy to see what you did for her 1st birthday when she grows big…..
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I too hope the same Sari 🙂
Thank you
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*sashtang dandavat*
I have rightly termed you as masterchef 😉
It looks so delicious in the pic itself, no wonder Pari was always with you while you worked on it.
Wow ME 🙂
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😳 😳 your comment left me speechless
Thank you Visha
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wowww… the colors are so bright and inviting.. good job momma.. Pari would love this picture when she grows up.. 🙂
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I remember you too had made a rainbow cake for Adi’s birthday this year….so same pinch and hugs on that note 😀 😀
Thank you for the pat on my back 🙂
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OMG… I am swooning over it. Seriously such a medlely of colors. I will try it out for my son.
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Go for it Jas, he’ll love it for sure 😀
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Wow. Looks beautiful! Happy Birthday Pari! 🙂 And happy one year of being a mommy to you! 🙂
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Thank you very much for the birthday wishes P&P 🙂
Long time buddy….how have you been?
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Pretty cake 🙂
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I am glad you liked in NN 🙂
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Fabulous cake!
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Thank you Jude 😀
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Fabulous cake – what fun! She must have loved it!
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She sure did 🙂
thank you lostinagreatbook
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What a special cake for this special occasion! It looks delicious.
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It literally melts in your mouth. It sure was a special day made success by this beauty 🙂
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Wow! Yummy and fun!
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indeed 🙂
Thank you Bards
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I rename it the Sunshine cake!! So full of life! 😀
Psst… when are you baking this for me? 😛
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I like the name 😀 😀 😀
Come over anytime Ash….it’s one of the easiest cakes to bake 😀
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That is a lovely cake! And guess what even I am planning to bake a rainbow cake for Arnav but looking for eggless version.
And ooops! Belated Birthday wishes to Pari, I was away so missed wishing her on time.
May she find all the happiness in this world and brings more sunshine in her Mom’s life 🙂
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Thank you very much for the wishes Smita 🙂
Go for an eggless vanilla cake and do the tinting…..am sure Arnav will love it 😀
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Such delicious… 🙂
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Thank you Bams 🙂
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Yummy! Stopping by from WOE
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Thank you for stopping by Debra 🙂
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the cake looks amazing
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I am glad you liked it Jo
Thank you 😀
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OMgosh,
that is FUNKY and soooo COOL. I love it!
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Thank you MIC 🙂
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That’s a wonderful looking (and undoubtedly tasting too) cake. Perfect for a first birthday! and wishing Pari a very happy (belated) birthday too!!!
May God shower you guys with the kindest blessings :-))))
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Thank you dear for the wonderful wishes 🙂
Hugs from Pari and myself 😀
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What a beautiful cake! I think I want to try something like that.
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Go fot it Waterfall, I am sure you’ll like it 🙂
Thank you
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Woww..waiting to see the cake. liked the colorful cake. I am also planning to bake a special cake on my daughter’s first birthday. I may visit your space for the recipe 🙂
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Wow! go for the recipe kshlife am sure she too will love the colorful surprise 😀
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Wow, that’s impressive! I would have expected something like that to be difficult to achieve.
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It’s as easy as making a vanilla cake 😀
Thank you Annabelle
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ME.. I am so sorry, I don’t know how I missed Pari’s birthday.. Belated wishes to you both..
And the colors in the cake, lovely 🙂
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Thank you Tharani for the wishes 😀
Long time buddy…how have you been? Are you back from the vacation??
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Hapy happy happy birthday to the little angel and so many good wishes on your re-birth anniversary too, ME 🙂
The cake is simply fab! Send over some to me! Yummmmmmm…..
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Thank you Very much for the wishes sweets 😀
Sending the cake over right away 😀 😀
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Loved the cake ME….no doubt Pari loved it!
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Thank you PT 🙂
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Gorgeous!!
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Thank you LG 🙂
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Wow lovely cake,…am drooling over it 🙂
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Thank you Garima 🙂
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superb!!!.. the cake certainly looks cheerful.. u should start teaching baking for me.. how much i wish i had time and patience to do it.. ME, i am coming home, keep the cake ready..
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😳 😳 thank you AM for that generous compliment….you are very kind and welcome anytime 😀
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The cake is looks so pretty I almost dont want to eat it because I will ruin it. It looks utterly yummy !
Give a birthday kiss to Pari from my side :*
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And I just realised she shares her birthday with my sister,she turned 18.
Pari is going to be one strong willed woman 🙂
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Thank you Ritika for the wonderful wishes 🙂
Belated birthday wishes for your sister.
Lots of love and cake soiled kisses from Pari to you 🙂
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Looks absolutely delicious.
Best (belated) wishes from me to your daughter, and many thanks for the awesome recipe. I’m totally going to try this out heh heh. 😀
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Thank you CE for the birthday wishes….so good to have you back 🙂
Do give it a try and let me know how it turned out 😀
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Ok. This is one of the most fun and unique cakes I have ever seen!! And it is just so perfect for a one year old, with all the vibrant colors!
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I am glad you liked it MPB….sure Pari loved it till the last bite 😀
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Lovely Cake! No wonder Pari loved it 🙂
Wishing Little Miss Sunshine a very Happy B’day once again 🙂
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Thank you very much lifesong 😀
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Oh my! Pari’s bday was in july? I was on vacation, hence missed wishing her :(. Please pass on my wishes and blessings to her, ME! May God shower her with the choicest of blessings 🙂
The cake looks absolutely drool-worthy!
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Thank you for the wishes Deeps 🙂
What a coincidence, I just wished Namnam and was drooling over your version of the same cake 😉
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