How to make a cake with an ombre effect

For Andrew's birthday I decided I wanted to make a cake with the fun little ombre effect that seems to be popping up all over the place lately.I looked and looked for an online tutorial, but fell short of something I thought would give me great direction. So there I went, spatula in one hand, cake pan in the other, into the kitchen to attempt the ombre effect cake.

I guess I should let you know something first though... I have a secret. Promise not to tell anyone?

I used a box mix.

Yep! I did. I thought the first time I attempted this technique I could really use some help from Betty Crocker. So again I went, spatula in one hand, cake pan and CAKE MIX in the other, into the kitchen to attempt the cake.

Here is how I did it:

Step 1: Make the batter

Follow directions on your box mix (or homemade recipe, you over-achiever) and divide the batter into 3 seperate bowls. These become the layers to the cake.

You really could make more layers here depending upon how much batter you stir up.

Step 2: Color, color, color!

Add food coloring to each bowl of batter, increasing the amount you put in per bowl. I think when I finished mixing in the color I put 6 drops in the first bowl, 9 in the second, and 12 in the 3rd. Really this is your preference.  You just need to make sure the bowls go from light to dark.

Step 3: Get cooking

Poor each of the colored mixtures into separate round cake pans and place into the oven. I kind of just guessed here  as to how long to cook each cake. It ended up being 16 minutes per pan.

Step 4: Let cool completely!

This is always the hardest part for me.

Step 5: Stack em'

Stack the layers from lightest to darkest, adding a layer of icing in between each cake.

Step 6: Finishing

Frost the rest of the cake. That's it! ...and the best part is cutting the first slice to sneak a peak at the results.

Love it!

Have a happy Tuesday!