Mardi Gras Tricolor Cake (Print Version)

Fluffy cake featuring colorful purple, green, and gold icing for a festive celebration.

# What You Need:

→ Cake

01 - 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2 ½ tsp baking powder
03 - ½ tsp salt
04 - 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
05 - 2 cups granulated sugar
06 - 4 large eggs, room temperature
07 - 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
08 - 1 cup whole milk

→ Tricolor Icing

09 - 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
10 - 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
11 - 4-5 tbsp whole milk or heavy cream
12 - 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
13 - Gel food coloring: purple, green, gold/yellow
14 - Pinch of salt

# How-To Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans, lining bottoms with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
03 - Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.
04 - Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Stir in vanilla extract.
05 - Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until combined.
06 - Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
07 - Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
08 - Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing until smooth. Mix in vanilla and salt.
09 - Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until reaching spreadable consistency.
10 - Divide icing into three bowls. Tint one bowl purple, one green, and one gold using gel food coloring. Mix each until evenly colored.
11 - Place one cake layer on serving platter. Spread a thin layer of any icing color over top. Place second cake layer on top.
12 - Frost the cake with tricolor stripes or swirls, alternating purple, green, and gold icing around sides and top using an offset spatula.
13 - Sprinkle with colored sugars or edible glitter in Mardi Gras shades for extra flair.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • The tricolor frosting turns a simple cake into something people will actually gasp at when you bring it to the table
  • Its surprisingly forgiving—my first attempt had lumpy batter and still came out perfectly tender
02 -
  • Room temperature ingredients absolutely matter here—cold butter creates lumpy batter that bakes unevenly
  • Gel food coloring is worth the extra trip to the store, as liquid coloring will turn your frosting into a soupy mess
03 -
  • For an ultra-tender crumb, substitute half the milk with sour cream—this small change makes the cake noticeably more luxurious
  • Chill your frosted cake for 15 minutes before slicing to get cleaner cuts through all that colorful buttercream

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