I am the luckiest person on the planet.

I’m in Portland, Oregon, the hometown of my beloved Decemberists. And I have tickets to see them as they wrap up their tour with shows tonight and tomorrow.

This will be my third Decemberists concert.

Like I said, I am the luckiest person on the planet.

And you know what?

Okkervil River is the opening band. Oh Em Gee!!! Lucky, Lucky.

I’ve never seen Okkervil River in concert, so I am pretty much going out of my freaking mind with anticipation of this show.

When I saw the Decemberists in January, My hands were bruised from clapping so much and so hard. I pretty much am planning on some more black and blue palms come tomorrow.

Because I love both bands so much, I made them a special cake.

Graffiti Rainbow Layer Cake

Ingredients:

8 oz (226g) butter, softened
2 1/3 c (466g) sugar
5 egg whites, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
3 c (375g) flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 1/2 c (355g) milk, warmed for 30 seconds in microwave to bring to take off the chill
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple gel food coloring.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Oil and line how ever many 9” cake pans you have (I have three and I reused them).

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg whites a little at a time. Add the vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Then, alternating between wet and dry, add the milk and flour mixture in two parts.

4. Divide the batter between 6 bowls (approximately 3/4 cup per bowl) and then whisk a fair amount of each food color into each bowl. Keep in mind that the color of the unbaked batter will be the color of the baked batter. Pour into the pans and bake for 15 minutes each.

That’s Okkervil River making for a very lovely Desktop.

5. When you remove the cake layers from the oven, let them rest on the cooling rack, in the pan, for ten minutes. Then turn out onto a rack to cool.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream (Unlike my epic fail with Swiss Buttercream here, this recipe worked like a charm)

Ingredients:

To fill and crumb coat:

9 egg whites
1 ¾ c (350g) sugar
1 pound (454g) of butter, softened
2 tsp lemon extract (optional)

To frost:

5 egg whites
1 c (200g) sugar
8 0z (227g) butter, softened
1 tsp lemon extract

To cover:

Approximately 2 lbs of white fondant
Candy Writers (You can these here)
Edible Markers (see note below)

Directions:

1. Cook the egg whites and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved (test by rubbing some between your fingers. If it’s completely smooth, it’s done).

2. Pour egg/sugar mixture into another bowl (a stand mixer is preferable) and whip on high speed until room temp. Then, on a medium-slow speed, add the butter, waiting until each piece is completely incorporated before adding the next. After all the butter has been added, turn the mixer back to high speed and whip until it has come together, about five minutes. Add the extract, if using, beat briefly and then use.

If the buttercream seems soupy after all of the butter is added and does not come together after whipping, refrigerate for 5 to 7 minutes and continue whipping until it becomes fluffy and workable.

Assembly:

1. Stack the layers in your preferred order and fill and frost as you would any other cake.

2. Roll out fondant and cover the cake. Trim and smooth.

3. Use Candy Writers to add your graffiti.

If you turn your head upside down you’ll see that The Wanting Comes In Waves. (Oh yes it does!!)

And Waves!!

Some Okkervil Love.

4. Keep cake refrigerated. Remove from fridge about 5 hours before serving time so buttercream can soften to the proper temperature.

Recipe from Sweetapolita

Note:
Rosie at Sweetapolita created the most gorgeous Rainbow Doodle Cake. I had almost zero success trying to use the edible markers on the chilled fondant. I even tried with 3 different brands. The Candy Writers worked much better for me.

Rosie’s post also gives lots of tips on making the buttercream and assembling the cake.

Now that we are finished looking at the cake let’s look at Colin. This is one of my favorite videos ever. Cracks me up. Isn’t he adorkable?

Love, Love, Love Okkervil River. Oh to be in that Motel room for the last bit of the song.

Cheers!