Rainbow Cake

A few months ago, I saw the Rainbow Cake featured on MckMama's blog. I have since wanted to make it, but seeing as how it's just Don and me, I never really had a reason to.

Well, I threw that all out the window last week when Jessica and I decided to each make one to share with our students. We thought it would make a nice treat on the last day of school before spring break. So we got together one day last week and baked all the layers. We used 3 cake mixes which made 6 layers. Since we each needed 6 layers, we halved each one. This also helped make the cake smaller...just think of how tall it would be if you used 6 full layers of cake!

We added food coloring to each of the layers (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple). Here's what it looks like before you ice it...





Then we made a couple batches of Buttercream Frosting and dyed those as well (this is for the rainbow we made on top of the cake). We frosted our cake with sky blue icing (not the blue below).

Then, we laid a piece of wax paper on top of an image of a rainbow, used piping gel (the frosting that comes in a tube) to trace it onto the wax paper, then carefully laid it on top of the cake to transfer the image. Cool, huh?

Here's my cake before any decorations were added...

Once we transferred the rainbow image, we used all our colored icing to fill it in.

First, the red layer...

Then the yellow...

And green...

And finally, blue...

Then, we added some clouds and a few other decorative elements...

Here's Jessica's cake...

And mine...

Of course, the best part was taking it into school. Our kids went nuts when we sliced into it! They were hilarious...we got a lot of "You're the best teachers EVER!" We'll see how long that lasts...ha!

It was pretty cool looking, though...

LOVE it!

Hopefully, we've inspired you to give it a try. Just remember...this is VERY time-consuming to make. I think we probably spent 7+ hours total on these cakes! It is SO worth it, though. In fact, we are making a couple more this week for Easter. I'll post pictures soon!

Have a great week!

Cake Decorating

About a month ago, my friend and co-worker, Jessica, suggested we sign up for cake decorating classes. We both love to cook and bake, and it seemed like fun so we registered ourselves for a Wilton class at our local Michael's.

We are now almost done with Course 1 (there are four courses, each with four classes), but I am just now getting around to posting our experience from the first class.

We had to bring an iced cake with us to each of the last 3 classes in Course 1 so we got together and baked all our cakes one weekend. Here are our first cakes (we each used just 1 layer)...



We leveled our cakes...



Then, we whipped up some buttercream frosting. This is the most delicious frosting you could imagine (I'll post the recipe here)...

Jess dyed her frosting green (St. Patrick's Day was coming up) and split her layer in half. She filled it with raspberry preserves...so good!

Then, we made our first attempt at icing and smoothing the cake...

Here's mine...

and Jess's...

Not too bad, right?

Now, don't judge me when you see my final cake. It's completely off-center and I ran out of room piping on the letters. Apparently, that's why we were supposed to practice and measure it out. Unfortunately, I was convinced that the OCD in me would carry over to cake decorating...not so!

Here's my cake with an ugly green bear (we had to make a bear) and the word "Congrats" because that's all I could think of that would fit...

Yes, it's bad...really bad. But just wait until you see what I have in store for you...you may just change your mind about my cake decorating skills!

P.S. The cake may be ugly, but it was DELICIOUS!

Las Vegas Trip Part V-The Wedding

We've finally come to the conclusion of our Las Vegas trip...the pictures you've all been waiting for, I'm sure!

Here's Don (looking thrilled, I might add), ready to tackle his best man duties...



He may have a cheesy smile, but at least he looks happier now...

Jodi, being walked down the aisle by her son, Chad, and daughter, Alley...

Jodi and Deron taking their vows in the gazebo...

It's over...they're married!

All of the Kaczorowski siblings...from L to R...Dave, Doug, Deron, Deb, Don.

Same thing but with their parents...

Don and me...

Don and his sister, Deb...

My in-laws...

All Don's aunts and uncles...from L to R...his dad, his mom, Uncle Tom, Aunt Deane, Aunt Judy and Aunt Lorie...

Don and his cousin, Amy...

The happy couple by one of the many waterfalls (sorry about the picture quality...it was getting dark)...

Their beautiful cake that we enjoyed on one of the restaurant's verandas. It was lovely. There was a huge fire pit to keep us warm since it was chilly that night.

What a great trip! We got to see all our family and take part in a beautiful wedding. Congratulations, Deron and Jodi!

Las Vegas Trip-Part IV

On Friday, we hopped on a bus and rode toward downtown to a pawn shop. But this wasn't just any pawn shop, it was the "Pawn Stars" pawn shop. Now, if that means nothing to you, you know how I felt when Don's entire family was talking excitedly about it the previous day. "Pawn Stars" is a reality show on the History Channel (my dad had to explain this to me) that documents the owner of a pawn shop, his crazy employees and the weird things that are brought into the shop.

It was quite the experience. There was a line outside the pawn shop, a bouncer wearing a gun on his thigh letting people in a few at a time (his name was Johnny Law and he was really pretty nice) and some really strange things in the pawn shop (i.e. Olympic medals, Super Bowl rings, an antique motorcycle). I've since watched a few episodes, and it's actually kind of interesting.



Here we are, outside the pawn shop (who would've thunk it?)...

After we returned from our trip to the pawn shop, we did some walking around the grounds of the Flamingo. We were looking specifically for the gazebo where the wedding was to take place, but we happened across a lot of stuff I didn't even know was there.

A view of our hotel...

Found it! The gazebo where Don's brother and fiance were tying the knot the next day...

Another waterfall...

A pretty little covered walkway (and yes, everything at the Flamingo is pink)...

More waterfalls...

On Saturday morning, we walked down toward the Mirage for a little photo shoot (you'll see what I'm talking about in a minute). On the way, we passed Caesar's Palace and this pretty fountain...

And a sculpture of dolphins outside the Mirage (I love dolphins!)...

And a large pond with yet another waterfall (this is where the volcano goes off every night)...

The other side of the volcano...

Ah, here is what we came for. Don's parents took this same picture of him the first time he visited Las Vegas. He has since taken this exact same picture every time he goes back. He has one from 1995, 2005 and now 2010.

On the way back to our hotel, we passed the Venetian. I thought this bell tower was really pretty.

Coming Up: Las Vegas Trip-The Final Installment: The Wedding