These 21 rainbow baking ideas and other rainbow sweets will bring a burst of magic into your life. Whether you’re hosting a birthday party or marking Pride Month, rainbow foods are sure to be a hit with both kids and adults alike.
In this roundup post of rainbow recipes, you’ll find a collection of colorful rainbow desserts and other rainbow baking recipes, all made from scratch. Some you’ll expect, like the rainbow layer cake or funfetti cookies. Other rainbow treats will bring a big rainbow surprise. You’ll have to read on to see!
How to make rainbow desserts
Fruit in rainbow colors
Fresh fruit is a great way to create colorful desserts with no food coloring. Here are some suggestions for my favorites, but it’s always best to use what’s in season:
Red: Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, grapes
Orange: Apricots, oranges
Yellow: Mango, pineapple, bananas
Green: Kiwi, green grapes
Blue: Blueberries
Purple: Blackberries, grapes
Rainbow food coloring
For vibrant and consistent colors, food coloring is your option. Liquid, gel, and powder food colors each have their benefits. Liquid colors are easy to mix, gel colors are more concentrated, and you can get natural food coloring in a variety of different powders.
Best rainbow desserts
Want just a sampling of the best colorful sweets? Start here:
Use a variety of fresh, colorful fruits for a simple, colorful dessert. Arrange your rainbow fruit tray in lines from red to violet to showcase the vibrant colors.
You can also arrange the same fruit on fruit skewers in rainbow order. This way you’re sure to get a bite of every color of the rainbow.
Go slightly fancier with a rainbow fruit parfait layered with yogurt in a tall glass. Or step it up with a rainbow fruit tart made with curd and a nut crust or mini pie crust shells.
Rainbow Fruit Tart
Brightly colored seasonal fruit arranged in a spiral pattern make this rainbow fruit tart a showstopper for your summer get-togethers.
The next group of amazing rainbow desserts get their vibrancy from food coloring, both natural and artificial. I’ve got my eye on those rainbow churros down below!
Rainbow Sugar Cookies
These Rainbow Sugar Cookies are rainbow-shaped cookies with a kaleidoscope of color that will bring joy your eyes and your stomach. Whether you're planning a school bake sale or gearing up for summer Pride celebrations, this rainbow sugar cookie recipe is your perfect ally.
This rainbow cake is made with six white cake layers, each dyed a different color of the rainbow. Frost it with an American buttercream, and you've got a perfect rainbow layer cake. Don't forget the sprinkles!
This rainbow cake is made with thin crepe layers dyed in rainbow colors and filled with whipped cream. Even more amazing is that the rainbow colors in this rainbow recipe are all-natural!
So many rainbow cakes! These Tie Dye Rainbow Cupcakes are made with a yellow butter cake and rainbow food coloring. Don't forget the rainbow sprinkles!
If you have a kiddo like my kiddo, you probably have jars of every type of sprinkle for cakes and cupcakes and ice cream and pretty much every dessert. But did you know that homemade sprinkles are super easy to make?
Rainbow Sprinkles
Knowing how to make homemade rainbow sprinkles will open your eyes to the magic of sprinkles. They're so easy to make and so easy to color and flavor whichever way you like. So try it once, and you won't ever buy sprinkles for cakes and cookies and ice cream ever again!
And here are some ideas for ways to use your homemade rainbow sprinkles!
Funfetti Pound Cake
This Funfetti Pound Cake is a classic vanilla pound cake filled with rainbow sprinkles and topped with a vanilla glaze. It's an easy funfetti cake to make when you're looking to do some procrastibaking or you want a birthday cake pound cake.
These Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats will bring back all of your childhood memories. They've got a crispy and chewy peanut butter rice krispie bar base topped with a smooth chocolate peanut butter ganache and rainbow sprinkles. They're simple to make and perfect as a treat to bring a picnic or a potluck.
These Funfetti Muffins are a celebration in every bite with a tender yellow crumb filled with rainbow sprinkles and topped with crunchy rainbow nonpareils. Rainbow sprinkle muffins are perfect, whether you're celebrating a birthday, hosting a Pride brunch, or just want to add a little fun to your morning.
Double Chocolate Rainbow Chip Cookies with White and Semisweet Chips
Measure chocolate chips with your heart, especially when it comes to rainbow chips! This rainbow recipe is a chocolate chip cookie made with both white and semisweet chocolate chips plus rainbow chips.
I hope you found something in this list of rainbow sweets and rainbow baking to make your life a little more colorful and delicious.
You can also check out my collection of savory rainbow recipes from the Ugly Duckling Bakery rainbow food archives. And don’t forget to share your rainbow creations with me on your favorite social media platform or in my Facebook group!
Bored with the recipes you’ve been cooking and baking lately? Get inspiration here:
LOVE all of these!! I can’t wait to make them!
These are absolutely amazing, thanks!