Molly Cookie

Green Class White Chocolate Whisper Cake

May 21, 2010 Cakes, Desserts, Food Things, White Chocolate

The graduation went really well and everyone seemed to love the cakes. Seeing Sullivan and his dad enjoy his Purple Class cake made it everything worth it.

I love Sullivan.

I have to say that my favorite part of the night though didn’t have anything to do with the kids. It was a very special moment that made me so happy, but no one knew about it except me. Immediately after the ceremony everyone started filing into the reception area to get their cake and I started to get a little antsy. This was the big moment where I would see if people actually liked the cakes, and I was a little nervous. Brian ran off to do something (I honestly didn’t know where he went but I assumed it was the bathroom) and I started talking to some of the staff members in the gym. About 2 minutes later, Brian was standing next to me holding a piece of cake. I don’t know how he got through the massive crowd and got a piece so fast, but the fact that he left the gym immediately and was so determined to get a piece made me so happy. I hadn’t seen another person with cake yet (it had honestly been so fast) and there he was, the love of my life, standing next to me with a piece of Green Class Cake. What a guy.

After that I felt a lot better. He gave me a bite of his cake, I thought it was good, and I started to feel confident that this just might work out. I was really happy I made several different flavors because it was fun for the guests to try different ones, and each one was so different and really did taste great. I was so glad I went all out on the recipes and actually made some great tasting cakes instead of just focusing on the decorating.

The staff set the cakes out beautifully on a table with the descriptions next to each one so the guests knew what they were picking. There was enough cake left over at the end of the night to make me feel like everyone got some who wanted some. When I left almost everyone was gone except for staff members and there were some pieces left on the table, so I was glad I made enough.

There were only a few people who tried all of the cakes to give me a fair evaluation of which one was best. Jean, the Executive Director of the preschool told me that she liked the Green and the Aqua/Red cakes the best and she couldn’t decide between them. Since most people only tried one type, I had to go off of compliments to see which one was the best. I think I got the most compliments on the Green Class Cake. The Green Class got a White Chocolate Whisper cake from The Cake Bible with Classic Buttercream. I liked this one the best too after trying them because it had such a delicious white chocolate taste and was still very moist and awesome.  I had several people comment on how much they liked it. If you want a pretty easy and really delicious white cake, this one is perfect. It is sweet and has a subtle white chocolate flavor, and it went really well with the classic buttercream but would probably be great with several different types of icing.

White Chocolate Whisper Cake from The Cake Bible

Really quick before I give you the recipe, I want to take a minute to say that if you ever want to make a cake and understand what you’re doing, The Cake Bible is the best. I felt completely prepared and like I knew what the outcome might be before I even started baking because it explained each cake in detail as far as taste, texture, and what icings would go well with different recipes. It has every kind of cake and icing you can imagine with instructions on adding flavors for variations. I highly recommend it if you like to bake cakes. Especially if you decide to bake 5 at once.

The recipe I’m going to give you is enough to fill two 9 inch pans. I doubled this recipe and used all of it to fill three 10-inch pans. If you want to make a normal size cake instead of a giant monster cake, then this recipe is for you.

Serves 12

Ingredients:

6 oz fine quality white chocolate
4.5 large egg whites (4 full liquid ounces)
1 cup milk
1.5 tsp vanilla
3 cups sifted cake flour **Molly Note: I used all purpose flour and turned it into cake flour. How you do it is for every cup of all purpose flour, take out two tablespoons of the flour and replace it with corn starch. Sift it all together and you’re ready to go.
1 cup + 3 Tbs sugar
1 tbs + 1.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter (must be softened)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate over hot (not simmering) water, stirring frequently. Remove from the water.

In a medium bowl lightly combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk, and vanilla.

In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1.5 minutes to aerate and develop the cake’s structure. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides. Add the melted chocolate and beat to incorporate.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans **see note below** and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans will be about 1/2 full. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cakes should start to shrink from the sides of the pans only after removal from the oven.

Let the cakes cool in the pans on the racks for 10 minutes (**Molly Note: I would wait at least 20 minutes, but I’m chicken and am afraid of breaking the cake by dropping it out too soon and having some of it stick to the sides). Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula and invert onto greased wire racks. To prevent splitting, reinvert so that the tops are up and cool completely before wrapping airtight.

**Prepared pans means that you grease your pans with butter, line them with parchment paper, then grease with butter again and sprinkle with flour before putting any cake batter into them. I explained how to do it here a while back.

Classic Buttercream from The Cake Bible

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients

6 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups unsalted butter (must be softened)

Have ready a greased 1-cup heatproof glass measure near the range.

In a bowl beat the yolks with an electric mixer until light in color. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan (preferably with a nonstick lining) and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is boiling. Stop stirring and boil to the soft-ball stage (238 degrees Farenheit). **Molly Note: this took about 8 minutes. Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measure to stop the cooking.

If using an electric hand-held mixer, beat the syrup into the yolks in a steady stream. Don’t allow syrup to fall on the beaters or they will spin it onto the sides of the bowl. If using a stand mixer, pour a small amount of the syrup over the yolks with the mixer turned off. Immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Stop the mixer and add a larger amount of syrup. Beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Continue with the remaining syrup. For the last addition, use a rubber scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure. Continue beating until completely cool. **Molly note: this is the point when you can add it food coloring if you want.

Gradually beat in the butter. Place in an airtight bowl. Bring to room temperature before using. Rebeat if necessary to restore texture.