I recently had the opportunity to make a gender reveal cake for our friends Jim and Colleen -- or rather, for their three daughters, since Jim and Colleen were already in on the news that their baby number four will also be a girl. I consulted Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible and decided to make her "White Chocolate Whisper Cake" with "Classic Lemon Buttercream." Beranbaum says that "White chocolate offers the double advantage of velvety, melt-in-the-mouth texture and, because of white cake's gentle flavor, a definite whisper of cocoa butter." She recommends pairing the cake with either lemon buttercream or white chocolate buttercream.
The White Chocolate Whisper Cake is essentially Beranbaum's White Velvet Butter Cake with white chocolate added, and comparable amounts of butter and sugar subtracted. The method is the two-stage mixing procedure Beranbaum uses for all of her butter cakes. You combine all of the sifted dry ingredients (cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt); add softened butter and milk; add the remaining liquid ingredients (egg whites, a little more milk, and vanilla) in three parts; and mix in melted white chocolate (I used Callebaut 25.9%). I added AmeriColor gel paste color in electric pink to color the batter and divided it between two parchment-lined, greased, and floured 9-inch pans. (Incidentally, I used pans that were 2-inches high and so I followed the instructions to scale up the recipe by one-third; as it's written, the recipe is meant to be baked in pans that are 1.5-inches tall.)
For the frosting I made the lemon variation of Beranbaum's classic
buttercream recipe, which is a French buttercream made with yolks. The
lemon flavoring comes from lemon juice in the sugar syrup as well as a
little bit of lemon extract at the end. So I beat egg yolks until light;
streamed in soft-ball stage sugar syrup (made with half water and half
lemon juice); beat the yolks until cool; slowly incorporated softened
butter; and added lemon extract. I also added a little AmeriColor deep
pink gel paste color to tint the frosting light pink.
When I leveled the cakes I was pleasantly surprised to see the intense pink color inside, which hadn't faded at all during baking. I filled and frosted the layers with the pink lemon buttercream and left the cake in the fridge overnight. The following day I made rolled fondant, covered the cake, and decorated it with blue and pink dots and question marks. I came up with this particular decorating scheme because: 1) I was inspired by the playroom in Jim and Colleen's house, where the walls are covered in bright polka dots; and 2) it was easy and didn't require me to sculpt baby booties or anything else that requires artistic ability.
The kids got the gender reveal concept right away. Five-year old Stella looked at the cake with its question marks and declared matter-of-factly, "It says it's a mystery."
The girls were thrilled when Colleen cut into the cake to reveal the pink interior. So was I. Of course I'm excited for the new baby, regardless of gender. But this was a great-looking cake, both before and after slicing. Colleen cut very slender slices for the girls and each piece was pristine. I particularly liked how the layers of buttercream and fondant were so even. And I loved the way the cake tasted. It had a distinctive cocoa butter flavor -- which I would characterize as stronger than a "whisper" -- and an impeccably tight, velvety crumb. The lemon buttercream was a wonderful pairing. The girls even ate the fondant.
I'm looking forward to the many joys I know baby girl #4 will bring: more sweetness, more smiles, more sisterly love, and more celebration cakes!
Recipes: "White Chocolate Whisper Cake," "Classic Lemon Buttercream," and "Classic Rolled Fondant" from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
The White Chocolate Whisper Cake is essentially Beranbaum's White Velvet Butter Cake with white chocolate added, and comparable amounts of butter and sugar subtracted. The method is the two-stage mixing procedure Beranbaum uses for all of her butter cakes. You combine all of the sifted dry ingredients (cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt); add softened butter and milk; add the remaining liquid ingredients (egg whites, a little more milk, and vanilla) in three parts; and mix in melted white chocolate (I used Callebaut 25.9%). I added AmeriColor gel paste color in electric pink to color the batter and divided it between two parchment-lined, greased, and floured 9-inch pans. (Incidentally, I used pans that were 2-inches high and so I followed the instructions to scale up the recipe by one-third; as it's written, the recipe is meant to be baked in pans that are 1.5-inches tall.)
When I leveled the cakes I was pleasantly surprised to see the intense pink color inside, which hadn't faded at all during baking. I filled and frosted the layers with the pink lemon buttercream and left the cake in the fridge overnight. The following day I made rolled fondant, covered the cake, and decorated it with blue and pink dots and question marks. I came up with this particular decorating scheme because: 1) I was inspired by the playroom in Jim and Colleen's house, where the walls are covered in bright polka dots; and 2) it was easy and didn't require me to sculpt baby booties or anything else that requires artistic ability.
The girls were thrilled when Colleen cut into the cake to reveal the pink interior. So was I. Of course I'm excited for the new baby, regardless of gender. But this was a great-looking cake, both before and after slicing. Colleen cut very slender slices for the girls and each piece was pristine. I particularly liked how the layers of buttercream and fondant were so even. And I loved the way the cake tasted. It had a distinctive cocoa butter flavor -- which I would characterize as stronger than a "whisper" -- and an impeccably tight, velvety crumb. The lemon buttercream was a wonderful pairing. The girls even ate the fondant.
I'm looking forward to the many joys I know baby girl #4 will bring: more sweetness, more smiles, more sisterly love, and more celebration cakes!
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