There is little else in this world more beautiful to my eyes than Alaska in June.
When she turns her face straight toward the sun’s light, all the colors kept in her shadows are revealed so they may shine. The warmth of summer coaxes the buds to bloom and freckle her face with flowers of pink and purple and brilliant yellow. Early morning rain deepens the many shades of green on leaves and grasses to better reflect the fire in the midnight sunset and the gold of the peachy sunrise. Even in June, the mountains still have their sparkling white caps that drain through crags in glittering streams. How magnificent our home is.
This past weekend I attended a very joyful, colorful event with my rainbow-clad entourage.
With waving flags, we demonstrated love and the joyful embrace of our neighbors, and with it the promise to ally with them in their fight to stand among the rest of us in the sunshine so their colors might shine, too.
For so long they have been made to hide in shadows, to mute and dull themselves, to be invisible so they would not offend the beige or clash against the neutral. That time has ended, and with my heart and the offer of my hand I encourage them to bloom as they are and let all the shades of humanity shine in equality.
Embracing the rainbow takes bravery, and it can be a long fight. I knew this rainbow crepe cake would be a challenge, but the task was well worth the effort, and just like I have faith in humanity, I had faith in myself, and now I present the results with Pride. May we all shine, now and forever.
Rainbow Crepe Cake
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
6 eggs
3 cups milk
6 tablespoons melted butter
16 ounces heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons sugar
Food coloring — red, yellow and blue
Directions:
Use a blender to combine all the ingredients except the food coloring. Blend until completely smooth.
Allow the batter to rest for 2 hours until there are no more bubbles in the batter.
Take out 1 cup of batter for each color — red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. There should be enough batter for that plus a little extra for a test crepe to ease your mind.
Mix each portion of batter until you have achieved the color you desire. The colors will be more vivid when the crepe is cooked, so don’t overdo the food coloring.
You will need a high-quality nonstick fry pan to make the crepes.
Heat the pan on medium heat.
Start with red and go in rainbow order (it makes assembling easier in the end).
When the pan is hot, drop the heat to medium low and take ¼ cup of red batter and drop it into the center of the pan.
Very quickly swirl the batter around to cover the entire pan.
Let it cook until the edges rise a little and you can slide a rubber spatula under the edge.
Gently lift the crepe and flip it to cook on the other side. When you can easily slide the crepe around with your fingers, it’s ready.
Transfer the cooked crepe to a plate to hold.
Continue making crepes, ¼ cup of batter at a time, all the way through the rainbow. You should have 4 crepes per color totaling 24 crepes.
Let the rainbow stack cool while you make the whipped cream by whipping the sugar and cream together until stiff.
Assemble the cake by layering whipped cream between all 24 crepes moving in reverse rainbow order.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to slice and serve. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week. Serve with black coffee for a brilliant breakfast.
