Lucy planned our her rainbow-hello-kitty birthday cake for months before the big day.

2012-10-01 Lu's birthday 61773

I don’t know that this was exactly what she had in mind, but she was pleased as punch about it, especially when we cut it open and she saw this rainbow surprise:

2012-10-01 Lu's birthday 61829

This is what you do: Mix up a white cake mix. Separate the batter into bowls and add a couple drops of high potency food coloring.  See those little bottles on the left below?  You can get them at Michael’s or a cake decorating store.

2012-10-01 Lu's birthday 61764

Drop the batter by spoonfuls into a greased 9×13 baking pan.

2012-10-01 Lu's birthday 61765

Smooth it out so it will bake evenly.

2012-10-01 Lu's birthday 61769

Bake according to package directions.  Then cut the cake into a hello kitty shape.  (I just looked up Hello Kitty on the internet and drew it free-hand as big as I could on a piece of paper and then outlined it on the cake.)

2012-10-01 Lu's birthday 61772

I’ve always had troubles with crumbs getting in the frosting when I try to frost a cut cake, but I looked up this whiz-bang idea on the internet: frost a really thin layer first (no worries if there are crumbs in it). Refrigerate the cake for a 1/2 hour or so.  Then frost it for reals.  No crumbs. Decorate with jellybeans and black licorice.  We frosted a bow cut from cardboard and lined it with rainbow skittles so she could see a rainbow on top.

2012-10-01 Lu's birthday 61774

Then we cut into that sucker and ate it up.

2012-10-01 Lu's birthday 61829

Easy-peasy rainbow surprise.