4TH OF JULY TIE-DYE CAKE

BAH! Thanks for all the love from Pinterest you guys! Follow along for more colorful ideas HERE!

xo, lp

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Today's recipe ROCKS. I'm not gonna lie, it takes a little bit of time to make - but it's super easy, and the reaction you'll get from your friends or family is worth EVERY minute of time you put in!

If you've been following this blog long enough, you know I LOVE a good ol' holiday.

Making some baked treats or cocktails with a theme is right up my alley, I don't care how lame that is!

In years past for the 4th of July I've focused on cocktails (like these mixed berry mojitos)...but this year I decided a cool cake would be just the ticket.

4th of July is just a couple weeks away, so be sure to pin this idea now to Pinterest or share the link to this post on Facebook (I'll love ya extra if you do!).

So you want to know how to make it happen? Here ya go:

What you'll need to make it happen:
- Red & Blue food coloring
- 2 containers of white frosting (you could totally make homemade buttercream, I just didn't!)
- White cake mix (or make your own, like I did using Martha's recipe)
- A whole bunch of bowls!
- Two 8" round cake pans

How to make it happen (full picture instruction at the bottom of the post):
Step 1: Preheat your oven and grease your cake pans well.
Step 2: Mix up your cake batter and separate evenly into 3 bowls, coloring 1 blue, 1 red, and leaving 1 white.
Step 3: Using either a melon baller, large spoon, or 1/4 cup measuring cup (no shame in any of those!) pour in about 1/4 cup of white cake batter in the center of the pan.
Step 4: Repeat the same step with your blue batter,pouring directly in the center of your white batter.
Step 5: Yup, you guessed it, repeat this exact same thing with the red batter! Keep doing this for each of the cake pans until you're out of batter and your pans look like 3 color bullseyes.

Step 6: Bake your cake per the direction in the recipe or on the box and let cool completely.
Step 7: If needed, cut the rounded edge of the top of the cake off so they stack well. Apply a thick layer of frosting on the first layer and add the top layer.
Step 8: Apply a "crumb coat" - frost the entire cake with white frosting to seal in all those pesky crumbs.
Step 9: Split your second can of frosting  into 3 bowls and dye 1 red, 1 blue. Rough frost red at the bottom of the cake, blue in the middle, and white at the top edge and full top of the cake.
Step 10: Using a flat spatula, smooth and slightly blend the frosting out on the side until the cake is fully smooth.
Step 11: Top with some decorations, cut, and enjoy!!

Can we talk about the WOW factor when you cut into this cake? 

What 4th of July food or drinks will you be making?

Bonus points if you'll be making this!

xo, lp

Looking for a no-bake 4th of July dessert idea? Try this awesome marbleized bark HERE! 

psssst: for more colorful stuff, go here

If you're more of a picture person, here's the full tutorial in one image! Pin away or share to your hearts content, m'love!