This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Rainbow Vanilla Layer Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting
This Rainbow Vanilla Layer Cake is the ultimate showstopper for birthdays, celebrations, or any time you want a “wow” moment. While it looks like a work of art, the flavor is pure, nostalgic bliss. By using cake flour for a fine crumb and sour cream for incredible moisture, this vanilla cake is light, airy, and anything but basic.
The signature 6-inch, five-layer tower creates a stunning vertical rainbow when sliced, making it the perfect centerpiece for your dessert table.
Why is This the Perfect Vanilla Everything Cake?
This is a vanilla layer cake that I have made for countless birthdays and other celebrations. Cake flour helps create a tender, soft crumb. The sour cream helps keep this cake deliciously moist. It is a medium density cake that holds its shape well when sliced. Create two layers with 8 or 9 inch cake pans, three layers with 6 inch cake pans or five thinner layers with shallow 6 inch cake pans. Unlike fluffy cakes which are light and airy, this cake has a tighter crumb and has a more compact structure. It’s a wonderful balance of a melt-in-your-mouth experience without being heavy.
What is the best frosting for this vanilla cake?
More layers mean more frosting, and I can never get enough of pure whipped cream. I am not a fan of buttercream frosting because I find it heavy, greasy and so sweet my teeth hurts just thinking about it. I have used ermine frosting for many years to frost this cake and it’s so much better than buttercream; it’s lighter and not as sweet, is very stable, and able to hold multiple cake layers in place. I recommend ermine frosting if you plan to leave this cake out un-refrigerated for a few hours, as ermine frosting will still be able to hold its shape well.
My favorite frosting is simply heavy cream whipped into a light fluffy cream with some vanilla and minimal amounts of powdered sugar. The addition of Whip It, a whipped cream stabilizer allows the use of simple heavy cream whipped to make a cream frosting that is stable enough to hold the cake layers and to decorate with. If time allows, frost this cake a day before serving and store it in the fridge so the cake layers can absorb the moisture from the frosting and for the frosting to set. Keep in mind that even with the whipped cream stabilizer, this is still delicate. It holds up a 6 inch, 5 layer cake fine but I don’t recommend transporting the cake or leaving it out un-refrigerated for more than 2 or 3 hours.
For another cake with more of a sponge cake texture, check out my recipe for Whipped Cream Sponge Cake with Fruit.
Ingredients for this vanilla cake
- cake flour
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- butter
- sour cream
- baking powder
- baking soda
- milk
- vanilla
- heavy cream
- powdered sugar
- whipped cream stabilizer
Rainbow Vanilla Layer Cake
This Rainbow Vanilla Layer Cake is the ultimate showstopper for birthdays, celebrations, or any time you want a “wow” moment. While it looks like a work of art, the flavor is pure, nostalgic bliss. By using cake flour for a fine crumb and sour cream for incredible moisture, this vanilla cake is light, airy, and anything but basic.
The signature 6-inch, five-layer tower creates a stunning vertical rainbow when sliced, making it the perfect centerpiece for your dessert table.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• The Perfect Crumb: The combination of butter and cake flour creates a melt-in-your-mouth texture that stays tender for days.
• Not-Too-Sweet Frosting: We’ve ditched the heavy buttercream for a cloud-like whipped heavy cream frosting.
• Perfectly Stabilized: Using Whip It ensures your frosting stays fluffy and holds its shape without wilting, even in multi-layer builds.
• Customizable: While the 5-layer rainbow is our favorite, this versatile batter works perfectly for 2-layer or 3-layer cakes as well.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Cake
- 2 1/2 cups (285 grams) cake flour, sifted
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks; 170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups (340 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) sour cream
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk, room temperature
Frosting
- 1 quart of heavy whipping cream, very cold
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 4 packages of Whip It whipped cream stabilizer
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- sprinkles, cookies, vanilla chips, chopped candy bars or berries for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease your cake pans and line them with parchment paper and grease the parchment as well.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on high speed for another 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula. Add the sour cream and mix on low speed for another minute. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just barely combined. With the mixer on low, drizzle in the milk and stop the mixer once are done with all the milk. You can continue to fold the batter by hand with a silicone spatula to finish mixing and scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl.
- Divide the batter evenly into cake pans. There will be approximately 1350 grams of batter. Use a food scale and divide 1350 by the number of cake pans you are using to help you get even layers.
Notes
- The amount of frosting from 4 cups of heavy cream yields approximately 1040 grams. For a six inch round, five layer cake, I used 1/2 cup (65 grams) of frosting between the layers.
Categories:
Real Ice Cream Might Be Good for You
What if your favorite dessert wasn’t the dietary villain you’ve been told it is? Groundbreaking
Sweety Drops, Olives and Hummus Dip
An outrageously easy, 5-minute Hummus Dip loaded with vibrant Sweety Drops, savory sliced olives, and
Scallion Ginger Sauce
That little plastic container of ginger scallion sauce they hand you at a Chinese BBQ
Shrimp and Vegetable Lo Mein
Craving takeout but want something that tastes infinitely fresher? This Easy Shrimp Lo Mein features
Prosciutto Rolls with Arugula and Goat Cheese
These Arugula, Goat Cheese & Prosciutto Rolls are the little black dress of appetizers —
Creamy Baked Truffle Mac and Cheese with Beef Tallow
Your mac and cheese era just got a serious upgrade. This Creamy Truffle Mac and
Perfect Berry Trifle
Meet your new favorite showstopper dessert. This Perfect Berry Trifle layers fluffy angel food cake
Tropical Guava Ice Cream
This Tropical, Creamy Guava Ice Cream is the dessert your summer didn’t know it needed.
Rich & Creamy Homemade Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream
If chocolate ice cream and Oreos had a baby — this is it. This Homemade
Creamy Roasted Black Sesame Ice Cream
Craving a dessert that is wonderfully unexpected? This homemade Black Sesame Ice Cream is made