Leprechaun Hat Cakes

The concept was easy: make some rainbow cakes, place them on top of a cookie, and decorate.
However, these cakes did not prove quite this simple to actually pull off. They did not end up as pretty as I had hoped. And let’s be real, I’m not the best at cake decorating and making icing smooth, so I don’t know why I thought this would be all that simple. However, I still think they turned out pretty cute, and of course, they are delicious.

So, how do we start? First, you need to make your cake batter. Because I don't have as much free time as I once did, I used a cake mix. But if you are feeling like doing some extra baking, feel free to make your own cake from scratch.

Either way, make the batter as the box or recipe indicates. Then, divide your batter into 6 bowls, and add food coloring to make them red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Next you need to grease your pan. I used a popover pan so that I could get the cylindrical shape for the top of the hat. Layer your rainbow of colored batters. I will say, they cakes rose quite a bit, and I ended up having to slice off the rounded top, so you probably don’t want to fill the pan quite as much as I did.

Bake the cakes at 350°F for about 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes before removing them from the pan. Once out of the pan, allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack. This is important because if you try to frost a warm cake, the frosting will melt and make a huge mess.

While the cakes cool, you can prep the frosting. For the sake of time, I used store-bought frosting, but you're always welcome to make your own. You'll need mostly green frosting, with a little black frosting as well. Spoon your frosting into bowls, add food coloring to them, and mix well.

Once the cakes are fully cooled, you can begin decorating. Slice off the rounded portion of the cake, so that you are left with only the cylindrical portion. Spread a little frosting on top of a cookie, and place the cake on top. I recommend placing all the cakes on all the cookies, and then placing them in the fridge for about 30 minutes, so that the frosting has a chance to harden. This will keep the cake from sliding off the cookie as you try to spread icing over the rest of it.

After the cakes have chilled, you can begin spreading green frosting over the entire cake and cookie. This part proved much more difficult than I had originally anticipated. I made a huge mess. Frosting and food coloring all over my hands. Frosting on the countertops. Frosting on my shirt. I guess if you’re not making a mess, you’re not baking well enough 😂 I will say, I did find it best to first make sure to cover the entire cake because worrying about smoothing the frosting. When I focused on covering before smoothing, my cakes turned out much neater. After the green frosting is spread, I recommend placing the cakes in the fridge again for another 20-30 minutes. This just makes the cakes a little easier to handle as you pipe on the black frosting. So after the cakes have chilled, spoon the black frosting into a pastry bag. Pipe some black frosting around the base of the cake, and then add a square of black frosting to serve as the buckle on the hat.