Instructions

1. Heat your oven to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan or two 8- to 9-inch round or square pans with baking spray. Alternatively, you can grease the baking pans with vegetable shortening and dust them with flour to prevent the cakes from sticking.

2. Prepare a basic yellow or white cake batter. Box-style cake mixes work well for making psychedelic cakes. Each box cake mix generally requires 1 1/4 cup of water, 1/3 cup of vegetable oil and three eggs, but ingredients might vary among different brands. One box of cake mix is enough to make one 9-by-13-inch cake or two 8- to 9-inch round or square cakes.

3. Pour equal parts batter into about four to six separate bowls, depending on the number of colors you wish to make.

4. Add gel food coloring to each bowl and mix thoroughly to create the different colors. Dip a toothpick in the gel food coloring, swirl it around the cake batter and mix thoroughly with a spoon. If you want a rainbow psychedelic cake, for example, use red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple food coloring. The colors tend to intensify after about 20 minutes so if it seems like nearly the perfect shade, wait 20 minutes before adding more food coloring.

5. Scoop a spoonful of the first colored batter and drop it into the center of the prepared baking pan.

6. Drop a spoonful of the second color at the center of the pan, directly on top of the first color. This pushes the second color out closer to the edges of the pan. Repeat this process with the remaining colors, adding each color at the center directly on top of the previous color. With each scoop you add, the batter spreads out closer to the edges. If you make two 8- to 9-inch cakes, layer the cake batter colors in reverse order.

7. Repeat the pattern of alternating colors until you use up all the cake batter. The number of layers depends on the size of the spoon you use. If you use a large ladle, for example, you'll have fewer layers with larger blocks of colors. Add the batter 1 tablespoon at a time, and you'll have many layers with smaller blocks of color.

8. Drag a toothpick through the layers of cake batter in a zigzag or swirl pattern, if desired, to mix the colors more throughout the cake. Don't swirl the toothpick too much, or you'll end up changing the colors, which has the potential to be unattractive.

9. Place the baking pans on the center rack of the oven and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and set it on a rack to cool completely.

10. Remove the cake from the pan and transfer it to a cake plate. Decorate the cake with your preferred choice of frosting or icing. You can get creative and add food coloring to plain white icing to carry the psychedelic look to the outside of the cake, or leave the icing white so there's a colorful surprise when you cut into the cake. If you made two smaller cakes, cut off the top with a serrated knife to make them level. Stack the smaller cakes with a layer of frosting in between.