Top Dog Birthday Cake

Bad lighting, sweet cake!

Thanks to my new 0% APR credit card, I’ve been bringing home all sorts of new merch. A touchless sensor trashcan, a coat rack, and best of all, “Rose’s Heavenly Cakes,” the new cookbook by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

Rose Levy Beranbaum (or as I call her, Rose Levy Beranbaum-chica-baum-baum, because her name isn’t long enough) ruled the cake world long before people like the Ace and the Boss came around.  Her book, “The Cake Bible,” is the sacred tome for anyone interested in taking all the fun out of baking a cake. It’s heavy reading combined with lots of math, and there are hardly any pictures. Still, I should have it, but I don’t. Blasphemous.

So, when I read on the Internet that “Rose’s Heavenly Cakes” is like an updated version of “The Cake Bible”—some basic recipes, lots of new innovation–it sounded like it was time to get me some RLB.

Stellar cakes require tough measures.

Rose’s cakes are indeed heavenly. They’re elegant and whimsical and absolutely top-notch. They are like the Kennedys of cakes. However, unlike the Kennedys, all that polish is hard-earned. This is the type of book that instills fear in people. All the weight measurements and thermometer readings and step after wearying step are more than most people sign up for. It honestly took me a few reads to recognize some familiar instructions buried within the constant temperature checks. Seriously, these ingredients have their temperature taken more than a sniffly 4^th grader with a neurotic mother.

Secret ingredient

But, like any good mother, Rose knows what’s best for you. Each intricate detail is printed to ensure that the outcome is nothing less then divine. And, speaking from experience, the tedium will serve you well when you bake the cake that finally makes up for ruining your best friend’s 21^st birthday by getting completely hammered without her and then taking her to the bars with only 20 minutes left to celebrate. Yes, I was that person.

And yes, a cake can be an apology, so 10 years later I’m making it up to my best girl with a white chocolate layer cake with raspberry mousseline and dark chocolate frosting. This cake was special for many reasons that I’ll list here:

1. A regular white cake is imbued with white chocolate for a richer flavor.
   

   crown jewel

2. This was my first attempt at mousseline (Mousselini?) and I love it! It’s like an extra light buttercream that’s just a tad bit more refined than a mousse.
3. The chocolate icing was deep and dark and easy to work with after a few attempts.
4. I made my first fondant Chihuahua, as that would be the pinnacle of this particular cake/apology.
5. I got even more mileage out of the edible flowers that have appeared in the past several posts.

Chocolate-covered Raspberry Cake (adapted from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy “The Baum” Beranbaum)

Batter:

8 oz white chocolate (with cocoa butter, not palm kernel or anything of the sort)

6 large egg whites (180 grams), at room temperature

1 ½ c milk (322 grams)

1 T vanilla extract

4 c sifted cake flour (400 grams)

1 ½ c superfine sugar (300 grams)

5 ½ t baking powder

1 t salt

12 T (1 ½ sticks) butter (170 grams)

Set oven rack in lower third of the oven and preheat oven to 350°. Coat two 9 by 2-inch round cake pans with cooking spray, line the bottom with parchment and spray the parchment. Also prepare 2 cupcake liners because apparently this recipe makes enough batter for exactly 2 cakes and 2 cupcakes–precision, precision, precision.

Melt white chocolate in a bowl set over hot, not simmering, water, stirring often–do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir until melted with a silicone spatula. Allow to cool until it is no longer warm to the touch but is still fluid.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites, 1/3 c of milk & the vanilla until lightly combined.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt on a low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining milk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Starting on med-low speed, gradually add the egg mixture to the batter in three parts, beating on med speed for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the melted white chocolate and beat to incorporate it, about 10 seconds. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 full. Divide the remaining batter between the prepared pans and smooth the surface with an offset spatula.

Bake for 30-40 minutes (25-30 mins for the cupcakes), or until golden brown, a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, and the cakes spring back when pressed lightly in the centers.

Let the cakes cool in the pans of a wire rack for 10 mins. Run a small spatula around the edge and invert onto wire racks that have been coated lightly with cooking spray. To prevent splitting, flip the cakes so the top sides are up. Cool completely.

Whew! I’m tired. More on the mousseline in good time.

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