Taste The Rainbow With These 7 Mardi Gras Must-Have Recipes

What better way to celebrate your pride this Mardi Gras 2022 than with a delicious selection of rainbow coloured food and drink? Grab your friends, throw on some glitter and get ready to enjoy these colourful treats!

1. Rainbow Vanilla Cheesecake Bars

If you’re after a recipe that is as equally bright as it is delicious, then these rainbow vanilla cheesecake bars are for you. Recipe from Delish.

Ingredients (Serves 9):

For Crust:

• Cooking spray, for pan
• 9 Digestive biscuits, crushed
• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• ¼ cup sugar

For Filling:

• 460g cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp salt
• Neon food dye in 6 colours

Method:

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees and grease a 20 x 20cm pan with cooking spray. For the crust add crushed Digestive biscuits to a bowl with butter and sugar and mix to combine, then press tightly into prepared pan.
• For the filling: In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla and salt and mix to combine. Pour half the mixture into the pan and set aside.
• Divide the remaining mixture into 6 small bowls (one for each colour) and add a few drops of food colouring to each bowl. Stir to combine, adjusting the colour as desired.
• Add spoonfuls of the dyed cheesecake mixture to the plain cheesecake mixture, alternating colours until you’ve used the whole mixture. Swirl colours together with a butter knife.
• Place the baking pan in a large roasting pan and pour enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides. Bake until only slightly jiggly, about 45 minutes.
• Turn off the oven, open the door and let cool inside the oven for 1 hour. Remove pan from water and refrigerate until firm (3 hours or overnight). Slice into bars and serve.

Source: Delish

2. Rainbow Fruit Skewers

You can eat the rainbow and be healthy at the same time with these mouth-watering rainbow fruit skewers. A super simple recipe that requires minimal prep and no cooking - an entertainers dream! Recipe from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients (Serves 7):

• 7 Raspberries
• 7 Strawberries
• 7 Mandarin segments
• 7 Cubes peeled mango
• 7 Peeled pineapple chunks
• 7 Peeled kiwi fruit chunks
• 7 Green grapes
• 7 Red grapes
• 14 Blueberries

Method:

Take 7 wooden skewers and thread the following fruit onto each - 1 raspberry, 1 strawberry, 1 mandarin segment, 1 cube of mango, 1 chunk pineapple, 1 chunk kiwi, 1 green and 1 red grape and finish off with 2 blueberries. Continue for the rest of the skewers and serve.

Image source: BBC Good Food

3. Rainbow Layer Cake

A party without a cake is just a meeting, so get your party started with this amazing Rainbow layer cake. It’s *almost* too pretty to eat, but I’m sure you’ll manage. Recipe from Betty Crocker.

Ingredients:

• 2 Boxes Betty Crocker vanilla cake mix
• 2 Cups water
• 1 Cup vegetable oil
• 6 Eggs
• 2 Packages Betty Crocker classic gel food colours
• Buttercream frosting:
• 1 Cup shortening
• 1 Cup butter, softened
• 1 Bag (75g) powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 - 4 tbsp milk

Method:

• Heat oven to 180 degrees. Spray 3x 20cm cake pans with cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 sec, then on medium speed for 2 min, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide batter evenly among 6 small bowls.
• Using food colours, tint batter in separate bowls for each individual colour.
• Refrigerate 3 colours of the batter until ready to bake. Pour the 3 remaining colours of batter into cake pans.
• Bake for 18-20 mins or until the cake springs back when touched lightly in the centre and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
• Wash and reuse cake pans if needed. Bake and cool the remaining 3 cake layers as directed.
• In a large bowl, beat the shortening and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light yellow. On low speed gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla. Add milk, 1 tbsp at a time, beating until frosting is smooth. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy.
• Trim rounded tops off cakes to level, if needed. On a serving plate, place the purple cake layer, spread with frosting to within ½cm to the edge. Repeat with blue, green, yellow, orange and red cake layers. Spread a light coat of frosting on top and side of cake to seal in crumbs, then frost with remaining frosting.

Image source: Betty Crocker

4. Greek Rainbow Vegetable Salad

Colourful food doesn’t have to be all sweet, so I thought I would add in this savoury recipe so you don’t burn out from a sugar high before the parade even starts. Recipe from Dinner Then Dessert.

Ingredients (Serves 4):

• 4 Medium vine tomatoes
• 1 Large cucumber
• ½ Red onion
• 1 Red capsicum
• 1 Yellow capsicum
• 100g Feta cheese
• 85g Kalamata olives
• ¼ Cup olive oil
• ¼ Cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp honey
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Chop all the vegetables into 2cm cubes
2. Chop the olives and crumble the feta cheese
3. Mix the olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, salt and pepper together in a small bowl.
4. Layer in the following order: red onions, cucumbers, yellow then red capsicum, tomatoes, feta and olives.
5. Pour the dressing over the salad and serve.

Image source: Dinner Then Dessert

5. Fairy Bread

Nothing says an Aussie childhood classic like fairy bread, and I know I ate my fair share when I was younger. So why not bring this familiar and colourful party classic as a treat of nostalgia for your guests. Recipe from Sweetest Menu.

Ingredients:

• White sliced bread
• Spreadable butter or margarine
• 100s and 1000s sprinkles

Method:

1. Cover the slices of white bread in lots of spreadable butter. Be sure to spread the butter right to the edges.
2. Add 100s and 1000s on top of the butter. Sprinkling with a dessert spoon works best.
3. Cut bread into triangles and serve.

Image source: Sweetest Menu

6. Drunken Fruit Loops

If you need a little liquid courage to let out your true diva, then why not have it in rainbow form. This colourful and nostalgic cocktail is sure to get you in the spirit to walk down the rainbow road. We have substituted the Fruity Pebbles for Fruit Loops. Recipe from Delish.

Ingredients (Serves 2):

• 2 Cups Milk
• 1 Cup crushed Fruit Loops divided (Or Fruity Pebbles, which can be found in speciality stores)
• 90ml Vanilla vodka
• 2 tsp sugar
• Splash grenadine
• Vanilla frosting, for rim
• Whipped cream, for garnish

Method:

1. In a large measuring cup, combine milk, and ½ cup Fruit Loops. Let sit for 30min in the refrigerator, then strain into a clean measuring cup. Stir in vodka and grenadine.
2. Spread frosting onto the rims of two glasses, then roll in the remaining Fruit Loops. Divide milk mixture between glasses and top with whipped cream.

Image source: Delish

7. Vegan Rainbow Spring Rolls

I find these delicious spring rolls are always a hit when I entertain and therefore would make a great colourful canape for your Mardi Gras party. They’re fresh and light and a great compliment to your sweet treats. Recipe from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients (Makes 24):

• 12 Spring roll wrappers
• ½ Small pack mint, leaves picked
• ½ Small pack Thai basil
• 4 Spring onions, cut in half then cut lengthways into strips
• 1 Zucchini, peeled lengthways, halved and cut into thin strips
• 1 Large carrot, halved and cut into thin strips
• ½ Mango, cut into strips
• 1 Red chilli, deseeded and cut into thin strips
• 50g salted peanuts, chopped (optional)
• Sweet chilli sauce, for dipping

Method:

1. Have all ingredients prepared and ready to go before you start assembling the rolls.
2. Dip a spring roll wrapper into a shallow bowl of water until it just softens.
3. Put the wet wrapper on a chopping board and top with a few mint and basil leaves, some spring onion, zucchini, carrot, mango, chilli and peanuts. Starting with the edge closest to you, fold the wrapper into the centre so that it covers half the filling.
4. Fold in both of the shorter ends, then rolling away from you, fold the wrapper over so that the entire filling is encased.
5. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and fillings to make 12 spring rolls. 
6. To serve, cut the spring rolls in half.
7. Serve with sweet chilli dipping sauce on the side.