Tie Dye/Raibow Cake Part 1

My daughter finally decided on a cake for her 7th birthday and it couldn't be crazier.
A Tie Dye Cake, inside and out.
But, I have a number of problem to address too. The place she picked to have the party doesn't allow outside foods and I have at least 3 children with diet restrictions: gluten, peanut, eggs and dairy.
In order to please them all and reduce the chances of having my foods tossed in the trash can, I'm working on a 2 tier cake instead of a cake and allergens free cupcakes. The bottom cake would be normal... with all the normal ingredients and the top suited for those with restrictions.

Back to the Tie Dye Cakes.
I found this wonderful blog Omnomicon, and she had what seemed to be the easiest cake recipe ever.
1 box of white cake mix
1 can of clear soda
Food coloring

Than I thought I could try it with the gluten-free mix. And so I did!
But I had one problem already. I only had one box of the mix and it didn't seem to be enough for the amount of soda. Although it tasted fine the texture wasn't so good.

Gluten-Free version

So the gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, dairy-free cake is too gooey. But I'm not giving up! I'll give it another try next week.

Now to the main cake. I'm still using Omnomicon's recipe.

It's pretty cool to see the bubbles from the soda rising the dough.



Time to add color to the batter. My daughter will love to help with this task when it's time to make her actual cake. Then she will brag about it during the party.



Pretty Cool!


Since I just dropped the batter for the gluten-free version I decides to make swirls and see what happens once it's baked.



I kinda liked the way the colors were on the gluten-free version.
For the real thing I will not make swirls again, the colors will be more vibrant.



And the verdict: It's a no go for the party, but good enough for dinner dessert.
My husband said it tastes like Fruit Loops (and looks like it too).
My daughter says it's ok, but too "sticky".
I agree! It tastes fine, but too gooey to be a 2 tier cake.
It is a cool idea, easy enough for your kids to pitch in and have lots of fun. The other good point is that the recipe does not make a 2 layer cake as the box mix would recommend. It makes half the servings so you won't have tons of leftovers either.

I'll be tackling the allergen free version and normal version again next week and will post step by step again.