Jackpot!!!

So I thought I would make a cake that would include recognizable colors and symbols that were associated with St. Patrick's Day. I came up with this cute and simple little cake. We have the colors green and gold and also a clover that match so well with the holiday. Wait, isn't their one more thing that we associate with this holiday? How about a ...

RAINBOW!!!! Ok, you might have been thinking Leprechaun, but I didn't know how to catch one of those, let alone stick it in a cake so this is the next best thing! I have to say this was WAY fun to make and it is such a surprise when you cut into it. Check out the process and then give it a try for some LUCKY person in your life. Happy baking and be sure to tell me how it turned out!!

Here we are with the cakes before they were baked. I colored the batter with Americolor for a very dramatic look, but Wilton gel colors would also work too. Once the batter was colored I used piping bags to put it in the pans. I started on the outside with red and worked my way in. One tip: I did one layer of each color and then went back and did another layer on top of the last in the same color. If you tried to make it thick to begin with you wouldn't have enough room for all your colors because they would run into the middle. Into the oven!!

Once they were baked and cooled I stacked them with a layer of my favorite cream cheese frosting and prepared to decorate the side.

Frost the edge with a nice (but not too heavy, or it will droop) layer of frosting and then work your way around the cake placing M&M's. I always put the M on the inside so it is just the plain color you see. You may think this will take forever, but believe me it looks awesome and goes fast. Especially if you recruit some helpers. As long as they don't eat all your M&M's!

I printed this big shamrock off the Internet on a piece of card stock and cut it out. While I was doing this my frosting got a crust on it, which you want. I placed the paper on the cake and gently pressed all around the edges so it sunk into the frosting a little. Then I very lightly wet the shamrock frosting with just a little water on my fingers. Next I dumped on a ton on gold sanding sugar and this is what it looked like.

After that you can either dust off the excess sugars or just lift off the paper carefully. This was my end result. Sparkly and tasty!!

Then all you have to do is dig in and watch everyone's surprised and excited faces!! YUM!