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experiments in Rainbow Cakes

This past St. Patrick's Day I made a Leprechaun Trap Cake [1], shown above, which revealed a nice rainbow shape inside each slice. I created the rainbow by pouring colored cake batter into an angel food cake pan one color on top of the other and it came out surprisingly well. (More details on the amounts of colored batter I used are in the original post [2].) At the time I wondered if doubling the recipe or using different cake pans would result in the same effect and I've made a half dozen cakes over the past month to find out. The results are below and it turns out the answer is "nope". For each of the following cakes I used the same boxed white cake mix, the same gel food colorings and the same technique to layer the batter. Two boxes of cake mix in an angel food cake pan. For my original cake I used one box of cake mix in this same angel food cake pan. Doubling the amount makes a big difference and the cake almost spilled over the top of the pan while baking. If I'd leveled this one I would have had a swoopy and uneven rainbow, but it would have been there. Half a box of cake mix in a 6 inch round cake pan. This was my most successful test variation. The cake shown has been leveled and turned out onto a plate, each slice had half a rainbow. One box of cake mix in a 6 inch round cake pan. I was hoping that the flat bottom of the cake pan with lots of batter would result in a tall rainbow, but instead I got something that looks more like a volcano. I didn't level this cake. Half a box of cake mix in a 4.5 x 8.5 inch loaf pan. I hoped the flat bottom of a loaf pan would give me similar results to the bundt pan but the batter didn't quite behave the same way. I leveled this cake before cutting into it and didn't realize that the leveled top held all the blue and purple colors, so I put it back on for the sake of the picture. One box of cake mix in a 4.5 x 8.5 inch loaf pan. Another loaf pan experiment this time with twice the batter, and another volcano like result. Two boxes of cake mix in a round mixing bowl. Here again I was hoping a tall cake would result in a nice tall rainbow. I didn't get that but I did get some very impressive swirling down the center of the cake and back up around the sides of the bowl. The center of this cake never quite baked. A failure all around but it's pretty cool to see how the batter moves while it's baking. My conclusion is that using less batter in a flat bottomed pan will more likely result in the rainbow arch I was hoping for. And that I got very, very lucky for the first version of this cake [3] that I made to come out so nicely. Call it the luck of the Irish? [1] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2011/03/16/leprechaun-trap-cake/ [2] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2011/03/16/leprechaun-trap-cake/ [3] http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2011/03/16/leprechaun-trap-cake/

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links: food

A Better Bitters Filter @Craftzine.com blog. Clever! And fast.Recipe: Sausage Pizza, Topped with Crispy Kale | The Kitchn. We do sausage and kale pizza a lot but often end up improvising, I'll try this next time.Modern Apizza's New Spin-off at Seattle's Safeco Field | Slice Pizza Blog. This might get me to a baseball game.100 recipes « Gustoso. A list of 100 recipes to try, with links to the best recipe for each one, video when available and lots of resources and variations.Roasted Broccoli Hummus | Not Without Salt. Somehow I find myself craving broccoli these days.Your New Favorite Potato Salad, at Ugly Green Chair. It's mayo-less!Sprinkle Bakes: Prince William's Groom's Cake. This looks so delicious.100 Ladurée Macarons at Design Mom. Swoon! So very pretty.How to Get Large Slices of Pizza from Small Ovens or Pies | Slice Pizza Blog. So simple. I admit to somehow finding a large slice more satisfying to eat than the same amount of smaller slices.How to Make Salad in a Jar. She uses a vacuum pack machine to keep it fresh. I think I would eat more salad if I had it ready to do like this.

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A Big Thank You

Thank you so very much to everybody who entered the giveaways last month, wow there are a lot of you. And another huge thank you to all the businesses that were so generous, I am honored that you all were so happy to share with my readers. Awesome all around, clap clap clap! Here are my gift conspirators, in order of appearance: Heidi Swanson [1], 101 Cookbooks School House Craft [2] Kirby Krackle [3] Moxie [4] Tea Weaver [5], Tea and Cookies Wendy McClure [6], Pound Hellimae's Salt Caramels [7] Schmancy [8] Susan Beal [9], West Coast Crafty Rakka Deer [10] Gayla Trail [11], You Grow Girl Matthew Porter Art [12] Crystalyn Kae [13] Joy the Baker [14] Jessie Oleson [15], CakeSpy Juniper Moon Farm [16] Dave Sheely Designs [17] Shauna and Danny Ahern [18], Gluten-free Girl and the Chef Alicia Paulson [19], Rosy Little Things mirror mirror [20] Product Body [21] This Charming Candy [22] And I've got a few offers and announcements for readers if you'd like: School House Craft [2] is offering a 20% discount to readers for any ticket combination they buy for the conference here in Seattle in September. Enter notmartha when you get your tickets. This Charming Candy [24] is offering 10% off of items in their Etsy shop, enter NotMartha10years at checkout. Good through Friday night, June 3rd. Product Body [21] is offering 15% off through June 15th (one use per customer). Enter NOTMARTHA15 when you're checking out. Crystalyn Kae [13] is holding a studio sale here in Seattle this Saturday, June 4 from 10am to 4pm at 5611B Phinney Ave N, Seattle WA 98103. There will likely be a few things that won't have appeared in the regular collection. Whew, ok, thanks everybody! [1] http://www.heidiswanson.com/ [2] http://schoolhousecraft.com/ [3] http://www.kirbykracklemusic.com/ [4] http://www.madebymoxie.com/ [5] http://www.teaandcookiesblog.com/ [6] http://www.poundy.com/ [7] http://www.saltcaramels.com/ [8] http://www.schmancytoys.com/ [9] http://westcoastcrafty.wordpress.com/ [10] http://www.etsy.com/shop/rakkadeer [11] http://www.yougrowgirl.com/ [12] http://www.matthewporterart.com/ [13] http://www.crystalynkae.com/ [14] http://www.joythebaker.com/ [15] http://www.cakespy.com/ [16] http://www.fiberfarm.com/ [17] http://www.etsy.com/shop/davesheelydesigns [18] http://glutenfreegirl.com/ [19] http://aliciapaulson.com/books.html [20] http://www.mirrormirrorontheweb.co.uk/ [21] http://www.productbody.com/ [22] http://www.thischarmingcandy.com/ [23] http://schoolhousecraft.com/ [24] http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThisCharmingCandy?ref=seller_info [25] http://www.productbody.com/ [26] http://www.crystalynkae.com/

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Kids Crafternoon: A bit of a peak at my new series { fabulous giveaway}

I am super duper hyped up excited to be able to finally show you the first two books in series of kids craft books I have been working on for Hardie Grant Books. Hardie Grant are a lovely Australian publisher who are well known for their beautiful lifestyle, design and cook books and have sort [...]

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