martha thinks: Anatomy of a Rainbow Cake

Since my son has seen so many baked goods leave this house and seen his mother come home from a variety of cake-related classes with delicious samples...he felt confident enough to ask me to make him a rainbow cake for his birthday.

And in turn, sure, I felt confident enough to take it on. I mean, how hard could it be? Right? It's just a process like anything else. Here the batter is divided up into bowls and colored with food dye. I made six colors, so you get the picture...six bowls.

And then six cake pans full of batter. If you don't have six cake pans, just bake two at a time, wash, rinse, repeat.

Who is washing these bowls?

Then stack and frost. I wrapped the layers in plastic wrap and refrigerated for at least an hour to firm up and make easier to frost.

While I was doing this, birthday boy's dad took the crew over for a swim. Oh did I mention his birthday is on the first day of summer? June 21st - a Summer Solstice baby which pleases him no end. What I remember is sitting in a cool air-conditioned living room for two weeks after he was born watching Wimbledon.

I had the two older boys in day camp and with the bassinet and diapers next to me, I stayed in my pajamas for days and days and days. The pace of it matched mine exactly. I still remember it as the most indulgent time watching the green lawn, the occasional rained out matches, the Royals. I don't play tennis, but I still love Wimbledon.

Here she is in all of her glory. A buncha sleepover boys waiting to dig in.

And here is my sweet boy out of the bassinet. Now 12. I guess you are too cool to smile when you are a 12 year old boy even if your mother made you a rainbow cake.

Now this - THIS - is my Martha Stewart moment. Since the sides and top of the cake are naturally browned when baking, you really do not get the full effect of what the cake will look like until you cut it. But when you do - you will be rewarded. If you like this sort of thing, it's awe-inspiring, like your own little Mt. Everest.