Rainbow Cake Topper
Making birthday cakes for kids is always so much fun! This cake started as a plan to be a sprinkle cake (a cake fully covered in rainbow sprinkles) but it soon evolved to include a rainbow cake topper. Even before being adorned with any other accents it is one of my favorites! It is like eating a dish of ice cream from a place that does a fantastic job with their rainbow sprinkles.
Starting to make the topper
You are making a three dimensional rainbow that will sit on the top of the cake. Because you’ll want it to be sturdy you can opt to use 100% gum paste or a 50/50 mix of gum paste and fondant.
Make your rainbow
Start by rolling out the ropes for the rainbow. Make sure to take time to make sure the paste is really smooth. As you can see in the picture at the right, I used a 6” parchment circle as a guide. Modify your sizing based on how many colors you hope to include in your rainbow while also considering the size of your finished cake.
Add colors and toothpicks
Continue to make the ropes, laying them in position as you complete each one. Then, add toothpicks so that the rainbow cake topper will stick into the cake. You may need to shorten your toothpicks by breaking or cutting them in half.
Adding the finishing touches
Use a circle cutter to cut little clouds for the bottom of the topper. Stick them onto the rainbow with a little bit of sugar glue or a light brushing with water. Add colored centers to your circle clouds.
If you would like to customize the topper with a name, roll out a thin rope of gum paste. Hand form letters to lay on the top of the rainbow.
The Cake!
The cake shown on the left is three layers of lemon cake with two layers of lemon cream filling. After you bake, fill and frost the cake, it is time to put the sprinkles on! It is a good idea to get a big sheet pan or cake pan for the excess sprinkles to land in so they aren’t all over your floor. Add the sprinkles by gently pushing a small handful onto the cake and allowing the excess to fall off repeatedly. Your cake is covered when you don’t see any gaps and you have tons of sprinkles falling off every second. Add your rainbow cake topper!