The Tie-Dye Cake Recipe (2024)

Ingredients for Our Signature Tie-Dye Cake

Before you begin, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature.

For the Vanilla Cake:

2 sticks unsalted butter (plus more for greasing the cake pans)

2 cups sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1 ¾ cups whole milk

For the Vanilla Icing:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 ¾ cups confectioner's sugar

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Wanna skip the baking and get to the eating? We’ve got you. Order your own tie-dye cake here.

How to Make the Tie-Dye Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Butter your cake pans or line them with parchment. (I recommend buttering the parchment paper, too. It makes lift-off way easier.)
2. Make your vanilla cake batter.With your hand-mixer or electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter on high speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add your sugar. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.
3. Add the vanilla extract. Mix at medium-low speed and add eggs one at a time. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl every so often.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sea salt, and baking powder.
5. Use the lowest speed setting to combine ½ of the flour mixture. (Any faster and you’ll get flour all over yourself.) When that’s incorporated, add ½ of the milk and the rest of your wet & dry ingredients. Mix until you have a smooth batter.

Mixing Your Colors

1. Now that you have your cake batter, divide evenly among 5 bowls. There should be a bowl for each of the colors you’ll use. Add 1 drop of food coloring at a time & mix until you have the bright pops of color you want.
2. Scoop your colors into 5 disposable pastry bags and snip off the top of the bag with a pair of scissors. Secure the end of your pastry bag with a rubber band to avoid getting batter all over your hands.
3. Pipe the colors in equal layers one over the other into your cake pans.
4. Make the tie-dye effect! Take a skewer and carefully drag through the batter. Start at the center of the bowl and move outward to create a pattern. Once you like how it looks, stop mixing! You can over-mix if you’re not careful.

Baking and Decorating Your Tie-Dye Cake

1. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until the cake springs back after you gently press a finger against it. Set the cake aside to cool completely.
2. Make your icing in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whip the butter for 1 minute on high speed, then add the vanilla.
3. Mix your confectioners’ sugar and salt in a separate bowl, then add the sugar into the mixer 1 cup at a time on low speed. Whip for 3 minutes until you have a light, fluffy, delicious icing.
4. Level your cooled-off cakes with a serrated knife, then decorate your favorite way! You can do a rustic crumb coat of white icing, make colorful glazes, or use one of the food colorings to make a colorful icing. When you cut into the cake, you’ll show off your tie-dye!

What You’ll Need

• Stand mixer
• Pink, green, yellow, orange, and blue food coloring (or your favorite festive colors!)
• Disposable pastry bags
• Wooden Skewers
• 3 round, 9-inch cake pans

Did you make this recipe? We want to know! Tag us in your baking creations on instagram @bakedbymelissa!