Feast Your Pies on This

 Sorry, the blog was getting a little dusty and vacant. Not for my lack of baking, though. I actually made several cakes between my last blog in March and now, but because I am 1,000% picky and 7,000% critical of myself, I didn't like how they turned out visually, so I didn't blog about them. While the recipes themselves were super yummy (and will be used again in future posts), my decorating was rather "blah." Well, my whole mood from 2020-2021 has been rather "blah," so I guess these cakes were just following suit. I was having feelings that would go really well with pie, so I knew what pick-me-up was in order to get me out of my baking rut. In pies we crust.

I only have pies for you.

Okay, these aren't actual pies, but hear me out...Pies are baked goods that are filled with fruit and have a crust. My pie cupcakes are also baked goods that are filled with fruit and have a crust (sure it's a piped decoration crust, but it still counts). Other added benefits of pie cupcakes over actual pies are that shoveling them in your mouth using only your hands is not frowned upon, you get 12 servings instead of only 8, and for the life of me, I cannot get a gluten-free scratch pie crust recipe to work, but cupcakes? Oh yes, I can make the heck out of some cupcakes. If you're pie-ning for a dessert that is a cute, festive addition to any summer BBQ (now that we can do those again, yay, science!), these more than fit the bill. Half a dozen cupcakes are heaped with blueberry pie filling and the other half have cherry pie filling inside. You could easily double the recipe for 24 cupcakes, but my husband and I don't need 24 cupcakes for just the two of us (read: I take that as a personal challenge to eat them three at a time). Thankfully, this recipe is only 195 calories per piecake...which means you could also top them with the world's tiniest scoop of ice cream and have guilt-free pie a la mode!

I mean, it's the little things in life, right?

I am always on the lookout for gluten free cake mixes that don't taste like gritty sandpaper after they're baked or dry out within 5 minutes of removing from the oven. Basically, good gluten free cake mixes are about as rare as unicorns (and also as expensive as I'd imagine a unicorn would be). My go-to is Whole Food's brand, but truly, I didn't want to make 600 cupcakes, just 12, so when I found Betty Crocker's gluten free yellow cake mix that makes one 9-inch round cake or, as luck would have it, a dozen cupcakes, I thought I'd try it out with very minimal changes to the ingredients the box called for and see what happened. To make my pie cupcakes, I used:

• Box of yellow cake mix (any will do if you're not gluten free, but only use half the mix to make 12 cupcakes)
• 2 eggs at room temp
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce at room temp
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 3/4 cup water (or milk, but Betty called for water, so I listened)
• Your preferred brand of canned blueberry and cherry pie fillings. For less sugar, I like using Duncan Hines Simply Pie Filling

You'll also need summer-appropriate cupcake liners. Not optional.

I preheated the oven to 325 (my oven cooks HOT and things get dried out easily; the box instructions called for 350, so follow your instructions if your oven isn't tethered to the sun), lined my muffin tin, and then dumped everything EXCEPT the pie fillings into my stand mixer, mixing on low for 30 seconds, then bumping to medium-high for two minutes. I used a cookie scoop to place one and a half scoops of batter into each liner, and I baked these for 21 minutes at 325. A toothpick came out mostly clean, and I didn't want to risk over-baking and drying out the cakes, so I removed them from the oven and let them rest while still in the pan on top of a cooling rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and allowing to cool completely to room temp.

Which was hard because they smelled like I needed to eat one right away.

You don't want to core and fill your cupcakes with the pie filling until they are cool to the touch. I placed mine into the fridge while I made and dyed my frosting, and this gave them (and me) enough time to chill out.

Sadly, my yogurt cream cheese frosting didn't make the cut.

So my cakes that were DELICIOUS BEYOND ALL REASON but didn't look pretty? Yogurt cream cheese frosting was to blame. While it works for some bigger decorating, things like stenciling and small piping (you know, the things I wanted to do) just don't work well since it isn't a stiff enough frosting. So, back to regular cream cheese frosting for anything piping-centric. Or in this case, pie-ping centric. Not sorry. For the frosting:

• 8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese at room temp
• 1/2 cup light butter at room temp
• 3 cups Lakanto monkfruit sweetener or powdered sugar
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract 
• Navy, purple, maroon, red, brown, and beige gel dyes (if you only have blue/red/beige, this will work fine)

Whip the butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add in the 3 cups of sweetener and the extracts, blending on low speed until things start coming together; then turn to medium-high and let everything fully incorporate. Full disclosure: for only 12 cupcakes, you will have a TON of leftover frosting. Freeze it for later! Or you know, eat most of it with a spoon. Whatever makes you happy.

This is why I always have a spoon handy.

I placed large heaps of frosting into three bowls. For my blueberry pie, I used a mix of navy blue and purple gel dyes. For my cherry pie, I used maroon and bright red. Finally, for my crust, I used a tiny bit of brown mixed with beige. I loaded each into a piping bag. For the blueberries, I used a #5 round tip; for my cherries, I used a #12 round tip, but this ended up being a little too big for my liking. If you have two #5 tips, just use these. I used two different tips for my crust. For the "lattice," I used a basketweave tip (Wilton #46), and for my crust border, I used a #21 star tip. Now, put your piping bags and the leftover bowl of frosting into the fridge to firm up while you fill your cupcakes with PIE!

Dessert mashups are highly underrated.

Remember, COOL YOUR CAKES! This is my life's mantra. When they're cool enough to core, use the end of a large piping tip or a cupcake corer if you have one. I always just grab my 1A tip and use the base. You're only going to need about a tablespoon of pie filling in each cupcake, and since I count my macros, even for dessert, I pre-measured my pie fillings. I ended up with enough leftover pie filling to make actual pies, so I put these in airtight containers and froze for later (and maybe ate some with a spoon...measured of course, cause ya know, macro tracking is addictive).

Take another little piece of my heart now, baby.

Simply wiggle the base of the frosting tip into the center of the cupcake until it's about halfway into the cake. Remove, and grab some pie filling.

Pie truly does fill the empty void.

I filled half my cakes with cherry and half with blueberry pie filling. You could do all one flavor if you wanted, but you know, eating them two a time, you get more variety this way (nods knowingly). I took the hollowed out pieces and crumbled them on top of the pie filling. You could skip this, but I refuse to waste or throw away cake (into my mouth. I would've eaten all 12 toppers).

She's my cherry pie!

To start decorating your pies, simply pipe little round blobs of cherries or blueberries on top of your filling with a small round tip. I did all my cherry pies first, then put these into the fridge so the frosting would firm up while I piped all my blueberries. I shifted back and forth between having one set in the fridge to firm up the frosting while the other set were out being decorated since I live in Florida where it is hot and humid and things as delicate as cream cheese frosting stand no chance at room temp.

Everything is sweaty. Everything.

Once my cherries had firmed up and it was safe to pipe on top of them without worrying about the frostings bleeding together or clumping, I put the basketweave tip on my beige frosting. I simply piped three stripes down one side of my cupcake.

You're already adorable and you're not even finished yet.

Then I turned my cupcake the opposite direction and piped three more lines to finish my lattice pattern, then back into the fridge with all six cherry cupcakes, and out with all six blueberry cupcakes to do the same thing. My sweaty hands (why is everything so hot, Florida?!) were an issue a few times, so I also placed my piping bag (tip removed) in the freezer for 5 minutes or so to let my frosting firm back up. If you find your frosting is getting hard to control, try freezing it for just a bit. This will make a huge difference in how crisp your lines look.

I am occu-pied by how perfect this looks.

To finish, swap your beige frosting tip over to a #21, then pipe shells, sideways, around the edge of the cupcake. If you're feeling extra (when am I not?), you can add some large sanding sugar crystals on top to make it look even more like an actual pie.

When in doubt, always add sprinkles.

They're cutie pies, alright.

You wanna piece of me??!

 Nothing says summer quite like pie and that irrepressible Florida humidity, so these pie-inspired cupcakes are at least bringing me some much needed relief from sweaty madness. I was a little skeptical of using a new box mix, but Betty Crocker's gluten free mix turned out to be pretty tasty. I would add another tablespoon or two of liquid next time though; while the flavor is AWESOME (thank you, almond extract, the unsung hero of all baked goods), even with under-baking these a little, they're a little too dry for my liking. I prefer a super moist (sorry) cupcake, and these had a texture that was more dense than moist (but thankfully not grainy or cardboard-adjacent at all). HOWEVER, since they're all filled with yummy, syrup-y pie filling, this really helps lessen how dense the cakes are, and most people with novice palettes or taste buds probably won't even notice (read: drunk uncles and children at your family BBQ will still be eating these two at a time). Plus, add that cream cheese frosting on top, and it's stellar flavor from start to finish. It's been a hot minute since I've made a regular cream cheese frosting, and classics are classics for a reason. Add all that together and it equals one tasty piecake you're probably not gonna want to share (so maybe do make 24). I'm having a hard time deciding if I like the blueberry or cherry piecakes better, so I suppose I'm just going to have to keep eating them until I find out. 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!

You could say I have fillings for these beauties.

A Different Kind of Spring Roll

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. My name is Kate, and I am insane. For years (I'm not even kidding--at least five years), I have tried to master the art of making a roll cake. I would come up with an awesome idea, pattern, flavor, etc., and without fail, 98% of the time, they would completely fall apart when I tried to roll them up in a towel or unroll to frost them no matter how many different approaches, tips, and techniques I tried. The other 2%? Cake roll turns out visually PERFECT but tasted like I'd imagine a running shoe would taste like: all rubbery and absolutely disgusting. But since I refuse to be bested by a baked good, I tried for the 1,947th time to make a roll cake. I cried actual tears when I finally managed to make a roll cake that, well, rolled, wasn't split into 16 different pieces, and also actually tastes like a cake and not a pair of Nikes.

It's a spring roll...get it?

This cake is positively blooming with lemon flavor. Something about springtime brings up lemon flavor associations in my mind...these thoughts then take a roundabout path that end up with me wanting a giant lemonade from Chick-fil-a only to realize, of course, it's Sunday, the only day of the week you ever want Chick-fil-a because you can't have it. At least I have this lemon cake that is bursting with enough spring-color-palette bliss that it reminds me of Peeps. But unlike those marshmallow? (questionable) creations, this is actually edible. Since it's a cake roll, it is a pretty springy (seriously, no pun intended I SWEAR), light, airy cake filled with lemon flavor, but my absolute favorite part (that I finally get to share with you since this recipe didn't turn into a flaming pile of my broken hopes and dreams) is the filling. It's my new take on cream cheese frosting with a secret ingredient that cuts down on fat and calories in a major way: Greek yogurt. But it doesn't taste like sour cream gone bad (get it together, plain Greek yogurt); it is blended in with ingredients that make this a yummy, creamy filling that also holds stiffly enough that you can pipe decorations with it. Added bonus? Each slice of this heavenly Easter-eqsue lemon cake roll is only 209 calories (8 slices total). You will need to make your frosting ahead of time, so scroll down after the cake recipe to learn why and how.

You'll have 95 cups of buttermilk leftover, though. Grease that waffle iron or pancake griddle...

I don't usually do from scratch recipes because I am lazy and follow the "work smarter not harder" approach to life. But with the increasingly high number of cake fails I've experienced with cake rolls (I still taste shoe rubber when I think of the last one), I decided to find a base recipe and experiment with extracts only. Happy to report the following recipe worked expertly and tastes phenomenal, so, ya know, roll with it:

• 1 cup of flour (I used King Arthur's gluten free flour)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 eggs at room temp
• 3/4 cup of Lakanto granular monkfruit sweetener or regular sugar
• 2 TBS vegetable oil
• 2 TBS buttermilk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• Gel dyes: I used Americolor electric green, teal, electric blue, electric purple, and electric pink. All together, a shockingly good spring/Easter color palette.
  

Egg-scuse me, that was a terrible pun. So was that, but I apologize for nothing. You want the recipe? You gotta deal with my bad dad jokes. Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare a 10x15 jelly roll pan with Parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray. 

In a bowl, mix the flour and baking powder together; set aside. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, whip the eggs on medium-high for 4 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow. Turn the mixer speed to low, add the sugar slowly, and let it fully incorporate. Add in the oil, buttermilk, vinegar, and extracts, followed finally by the dry flour mix a little at a time. You don't want to over mix since you need to color the batter later, so just mix on low until everything comes together. 

Divide batter into 5 small bowls (I used 1/2 cup of batter in each bowl). Dye each your springtime colors of choice (if it isn't neon, really pink, or annoyingly yellow, is it actually a spring cake?). Much like my rainbow bundt cake, you'll use every bowl and spoon in your kitchen, so thank God for dishwashers.

I know it might sound odd, but neon pink is such an obnoxious color that I absolutely love it.

Now, once you've dyed all your batter, add each color to its own piping bag or a plastic bag.

And prepare to turn everything in your kitchen into a neon disaster of Meow Wolf proportions.

You might want to put some paper towels down so you don't dye your kitchen counters to match those Easter eggs you were working on with your kids (I assume this is still a thing people do, ponders Lady No-Kids). Grab that prepared pan, and snip the tips off the piping or plastic bags. I alternated diagonal stripes of lime, teal, blue, purple, pink:

While giddily giggling at how blindingly bright this cake was going to be. I really wanted it to scream SPRING IS HERE, and I think you could probably see these colors from space, so, mission achieved.

I used an angled spatula to gently smooth each color after I piped it so that there were no gaps between colors and the batter was spread evenly for baking. Be sure to wipe the spatula clean between each color.

I get a strange yearning to find all my old Lisa Frank memorabilia looking at this.

Next time, I would make my stripes thinner so more of them show once the cake is rolled up. Alternatively, you could do horizontal stripes as well. Once you've filled the pan, gently tap it on the counter a few times to release air bubbles. Bake at 350 for exactly 12 minutes. I added an extra minute because it still felt a little too spongy, and I had cracking issues in some places. I definitely attribute this to the bake time because the thinner areas where I didn't do as good of a job evenly distributing batter were the areas that cracked. So be careful to really evenly spread the batter and not to over bake by even 1 minute...this is the Mariah Carey of cakes--total diva. Had I pulled the roll out at 12 minutes, it definitely would've been spongy enough to be malleable all over for rolling.

Seriously, this is so neon it hurts to look at for more than 10 seconds at a time. *It's perfect.*

Rewind a bit, and while your cake is still baking in the oven, throw down a tea towel and dust the ever-loving-heck out of it with powdered sugar on both sides. This will keep the cake from sticking to the towel. There will be powdered sugar covering everything in your kitchen no matter how many paper towels or how much wax paper you put down, so prepare for it to look like a drug deal went very wrong. White powder EVERYWHERE. Now, the SECOND that cake comes out of the oven after 12, not 13 minutes, put the tea towel on top of it, then put a cooling rack on top of that, face down. With the aid of some pot holders, flip all this over together. 

It's like a very hot, potentially burn-y circus act to get this out of the pan.

Remove the pan, which is now on top of everything, very carefully so you don't burn yourself, or worse, hurt the cake. It may be a very demanding cake, but it is otherwise perfectly innocent. Carefully, slowly, gingerly, incredibly nimbly, roll the cake up in the towel starting from the short side (left to right, not top to bottom, based on the position of my cake above).

Don't forget to breathe in there somewhere, too.

Congratulations, you've made it 75% of the way. I assume performing surgery is easier than making a cake roll, but I might be off base. Let the cake cool completely to the touch while in the towel on top of cooling rack. Don't move it to the fridge or freezer; you don't want it to dry out at all. If you blast it with cold air, it will, and then when you try to unroll it, it will crumble. Trust me, I've done this about 2,700 times, and every time I put my roll in the fridge to chill, it absolutely crumbled apart.

Yes, you need specialty spring sprinkles. It's simply a required aesthetic aspect to compliment how unbeliveably neon this cake is.

Guys, put your feelings about Greek yogurt aside. I absolutely refuse to eat plain Greek yogurt, but the flavored stuff is aces. I prefer Two Good or Dannon Light+Fit flavors, but your favorite brand will work. You want to get started on this the day before you bake because you need to strain your yogurt overnight. To make:

• 8 ounces/226 grams strained vanilla or lemon Greek yogurt (I used vanilla)
• 8 ounces of 1/3 less fat cream cheese at room temp
• 2 TBS powdered monkfruit or powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• Optional: 1 tsp lemon extract (I didn't, but really wish I had added this because I love lemon flavor)
• Not even remotely optional: these adorable Easter sprinkles 

 

Yogurt Straining 101

Yogurt straining is super simple, it just takes awhile. In order to make a pipe-able, stiff frosting, you'll need to do this. Put a sieve over a bowl, and put either cheesecloth, a coffee filter, or a thin layer of really durable paper towels (I used two sheets of Viva folded in half) in the sieve. Then plop your yogurt in this, cover with plastic wrap, and let drain overnight in the fridge.

The next day, beat the softened cream cheese in a stand mixer until light and fluffy, around 3 minutes. Add the yogurt, blending on medium high until everything comes together. Add the powdered monkfruit and the extracts, and finish mixing. Now, pray to whatever deity you believe in because it's time to unroll your cake.

Once the cake is cool to the touch, very slowly unroll it from the kitchen towel. Use 2/3 of the frosting to slather on the top of the cake. Once you have a nice thick layer of frosting, this helps to hold things together in the event of any cracking (There will be cracking. There will always be cracking). Slowly roll the cake back up, using the towel to help guide you along the way. I would roll a small section, carefully ply the towel away from the cake, roll again, and repeat until my cake was in a solid roll with minimal cracks (i.e., it was in 1 piece and not 7).

An Easter miracle! Wait...

Hindsight here is my only cake roll plate is fall-themed. Fall is the best season, so it stands to reason I'll have to use this recipe again in a few months. Until then, let's think of this as a "Gathering of the Seasons."

Fall leaves and neon spring hues definitely do not go together.

Now that you've survived the hardest part of making a cake roll, have some fun and decorate that electric beauty. I used a 2D tip and the rest of my frosting to pipe large mounds down the middle of the cake, then came back in to pipe small flowers beside each mound. Naturally, I finished with sprinkles, as is always the case.

Because they're freakin' delightful, people.

Cake plate aside, I am so happy with how this looks.

The inside is absolutely adorable to boot.

Few times in my life have I felt more relief than when a cake roll finally turned out right after a million failed attempts. It was a large baking victory, and I stand by it!

You can definitely trim the ends to give it a cleaner look for presentation, but after the anxiety and breath holding, you'll probably be ready to take a nap or drink a stiff beverage once you're done piping and sprinkling. Plus, trimmed ends = wasted cake, and we just can't have that. I wish I had used a bit more filling so the color layers were separated better, but there's always next time. I assume my next cake roll will end up being an utter nightmare, so I'm just basking in the glow of this cake...which is completely possible thanks to those electric neon hues it's giving off. I am eagerly awaiting my next slice. 

These are also the best tasting sprinkles I have ever had, and that's saying something because I have an entire pantry shelf devoted to sprinkles.

After a few heavier cake bakes, this roll and the lemon flavor are so refreshing. It's nice to eat a slice of cake and feel somehow lighter? But that could also just be the years of cake roll fails falling off my soul. Either way, this recipe is delicious, and that yogurt cream cheese frosting is an absolute game changer. Whatever cake flavor- strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, caramel, blueberry, you get the point, there's a Greek yogurt in the same flavor that you can make your cream cheese frosting with. I'm already plotting out how to use it in my next bake. Until then, this colorful springtime beauty is all I need. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter next Sunday! If you bring this cake roll to your family gathering, you will make the Easter Bunny look like an absolute chump. 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!

That's all, yolks!

Taste the (Boozy) Rainbow

 A year ago, I was gearing up for St. Patrick's Day with this gorgeous striped shamrock cake when the world more or less ended (probably should've made that clover cake topper a 4-leafer). I had never comfort eaten cake like that before, but it became a pretty regular occurrence thereafter in 2020. Here we are, March 2021, and I decided this year's festive holiday bake needed to be bolder, brighter, and, well, boozier. Because after the past 12 months, I needed a solid reminder that good still exists, and in this case, it's in the form of a Baileys salted caramel bundt cake the colors of the rainbow.

Also appropriate because much like the rainbow, I am over it.

I know, for someone whose wardrobe is black with a dash of more black, this is a really vibrant, colorful choice. I kinda felt like a rainbow might be a mood lifter, and if that didn't do the trick, the copious amount of Baileys in this recipe definitely would. I am happy to report that I was correct on both counts! This cake is swimming in delicious salted caramel flavor thanks to the Baileys both in the cake and in the glaze on top. It also delights me greatly every time I open the fridge and see this little cakey rainbow waiting for me to eat it (note: I don't have a slice every time I open the fridge. But I want to, because YUM). Somewhere over the rainbow, Florida swimsuit season is a mere 10 days away, and this will only run me 247 calories a slice for 12 slices total...a Saint Patrick's Day miracle!

This recipe is definitely my lucky charm.

I will admit this is a very dense cake...it's more like a Bailey's sweet bread with glaze on top. If you prefer a lighter forkful, follow my recipe recommendations below to give your cake more spring. To make, you'll need:

• 1 box of yellow cake mix (I use Whole Foods gluten free yellow cake mix)
• 1 box of sugar free instant vanilla pudding*
  
• 2 eggs at room temp
• 3/4 cup + 2 TBS of either regular or salted caramel Baileys
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup of butter at room temp*
• Gel dyes in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple
  

*I wanted to see if these two additions would make a moister cake since gluten free mixes can get a little dry. I would omit both of these next time to make a cake with a lighter, more traditional texture. Don't get me wrong, the flavor these bring to the cake overall are awesome, but I prefer a lighter texture for my desserts. With the current density, I do feel pretty comfortable eating this cake as a sweet breakfast bread though, so there's that. Do rainbows have silver linings? Because this one does.

Start by preheating your oven to 350 and grease a bundt cake pan very well. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla, milk, and Baileys, and set aside. In your stand mixer, blend the applesauce and butter together (skip this step if not adding butter, just dump the applesauce in your mixer bowl). Add the pudding mix and 1/3 of the cake mix to the stand mixer, blending on low until it begins to combine with the applesauce/butter. You can scrape the bowl as you go, and add in 1/3 of the liquid mix. Blend, add 1/3 more dry mix, scrape the bowl, add 1/3 more liquid, etc. until everything is in the bowl, mixed together on low speed. Try not to over mix since you have to dye your batter and mix it around more later.

Get ready to Roy G. Biv it.

You'll need every bowl you have in your house and potentially even your neighbor's, but, worth it, I promise. A technicolor dreamcoat of a cake requires a little extra effort. Split your batter evenly into 6 bowls. With my gluten free cake mix (which is a little less than a typical cake mix), I was able to scoop 2/3 cup into each bowl.

Let's take a moment to appreciate my new phone's camera. It's fabulous.

Dye each bowl a different color, obviously, so be careful cleaning spoons, or be lazy like me and use 6. Work smarter, not harder.

Maybe this cake should've been Skittles flavored. Does anyone make Skittles vodka?

Now, take either piping bags or plastic bags, and fill your batter one color in each bag. You'll want to snip your piping bag or plastic bag so there's a medium-sized opening. Grab that prepared pan and small spatula.

Seriously, this is an unedited photo. LOOK AT THAT COLOR. Gah, I really was taking photos with a potato of a phone before this.

Start with your red, and pipe circles into the bundt pan. Smooth these out with your spatula.

Truly, I hate the color orange. It makes me angry, and I'm not sure why. Was I accidentally hit on the head with multiple oranges as small child?

Now, carefully pipe the orange on top of the red. Using gentle pressure with the spatula, smooth this batter out so that it is completely covering the red. You don't want them to mix together, so use a light hand.

Also not a big fan of yellow, so maybe a whole fruit basket fell on my head?

Above is before I've smoothed out my batter, so you have a better idea of what to "go for..." A.k.a., a concentric hot mess.

Thank god that spatula smooths things over.

Repeat with the green, blue, and finish with the purple. Give your pan a few gentle taps on the counter to get rid of any bubbles, but not so hard your layers start to mix together. Bake this at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. A toothpick should come out cleanly when it's done.

Honestly, should've layered this backwards because it is a true tragedy the purple is hidden on bottom.

Leave your cake in the pan on top of a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Then run an angled spatula around the edges and the center of the bundt pan. I place the cooling rack on top of the pan and then flip everything over at the same time to release my cake.

"Rainbow Brite, see the shining light..." If you're over 30, appreciate that moment of childhood zen.

Guys, it's so colorful I kinda want to a die a little. And this is only the OUTSIDE. The inside is truly something Rainbow Brite herself would be envious of because it is fabulous. Now, I placed my cake inside the fridge to chill for 30 minutes before I made my glaze and eyed my baking Baileys.

What? Half the booze in our house is for drinking, the other half is for baking.

This glaze is super duper simple, which, after spending an hour becoming a color mixing master, is something you'll truly appreciate. You need:

• 1 cup of powdered monkfruit or sugar
• 1/2 TBS skim milk
• Oh look, more Baileys! I used 2 TBS, you could definitely do 2 1/2 and skip the milk, but I am lightweight
• Super rad St. Paddy's Day sprinkles (I found mine on Amazon)

Dump the sugar, Baileys, and milk together and whisk until completely smooth. If you think things are too thick, try adding a tsp of milk or Baileys at a time. I put my glaze into a liquid measuring cup once my consistency was thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

It also helps to have everything close by. Glaze sets quickly, so work fast to add sprinkles.

Clearly, sprinkles are NOT optional in my book, so once I poured my glaze all over the top of the cake, I quickly added sprinkles on top:

Gotta let the leprechaun represent in there somewhere! Cute little shamrockin' sprinkles will do the trick.

Irish I had more cake...

Now, let everything set up in the fridge for a couple hours before slicing. Keep it in the fridge until it is all devoured since there's dairy in the glaze.

So magically delicious.

If you ever wanted to eat a piece of cake whose pure existence just radiates joy and flair, this is definitely the cake for that. I realize most rainbows lead to a pot of gold, and in 2021, I hope that pot also contains a COVID vaccine so we can get back to regularly scheduled St. Patrick's Day shenanigans by 2022. At least I have this cake to help me cope with being a shut-in for a while longer! Anything that tastes of salted caramel Baileys in each bite is a blissful escape from reality. That glaze is nice and sweet but finishes smooth and rich thanks to the Baileys, and it's a nice little kick of flavor paired with the cake itself. It may be a dense bake, but that makes it no less delicious! I'm definitely making this again because Baileys makes everything better. I hope however you're celebrating Saint Patrick's Day, you're safe, happy, and full of Baileys cake. 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!

I'm not sharing though, so you're gonna have to bake your own...