In 1998 I sat next to Rose Levy Beranbaum on a panel of bakers at a Barnes & Noble for a “Celebrity Cook Book Club.” I was freshly out of culinary school and working as a pastry chef at a fine dining restaurant. I was neither a “celebrity” nor a cookbook author, so how I ended up on that panel was a complete mystery. I just wanted to meet my baking hero in person. I was so nervous I could barely speak, felt like a world class imposter and must have blacked out because I recall NOTHING! I do remember Rose being kind and welcoming.
I baked my way through Rose Levy Beranbaum’s original Cake Bible in an attempt to fill the gaps left in my instruction at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Rose’s recipes are an education! The way she structures her books is so unique and the recipes ironclad—there is nothing left to chance. I can say with complete confidence that they ALL work flawlessly. Every pastry kitchen has a copy of The Cake Bible. I had two copies when I was running a pastry kitchen. I left one behind as a gift to my staff when I had my boys and decided to leave the restaurant world. It was the right thing to do, but I regret not taking that treasure home, which was filled with all my notes and splattered with so many years of baking memories.
Since that first encounter I have had the great fortune of seeing Rose at events and getting to meet her husband, Woody. They met over their love of baking cakes and have gone on to build a partnership and eventually create this 35th Anniversary edition of The Cake Bible together. In my view, the original book was perfection but now it is even better! I am so thrilled to consider them friends and mentors.
Be sure to enter for your chance to win a copy below!
GIVEAWAY
[GIVEAWAY CLOSED] Winners (Tiffanie & Vickie!) have been notified and accepted their prizes!
Rose and Woody have generously shared the Whipped Cream Cake recipe from the book, and are giving away TWO copies of The Cake Bible. GIVEAWAY DETAILS: Simply leave a comment below by Sunday, June 15, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. and you’ll be entered to win! We’ll randomly select winners early next week and notify them via email. US addresses only.
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 225 g (2 1/4 cups sifted into the cup and leveled off) bleached cake flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 348 g (1 1/2 cups / 355ml) cold heavy cream
- 225 g (1 cup plus 2 Tbsp.) sugar preferably superfine sugar
Instructions
PREHEAT THE OVEN + PREPARE THE PAN
- Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Set the oven at 375℉/190℃.
- Coat the tube pan with baking spray and flour.
MIX THE DRY INGREDIENTS
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt and then sift the mixture onto a piece of parchment to make it easier to incorporate.
MIX THE LIQUID INGREDIENTS
- In a 1 cup/237 ml glass measure with a spout, lightly whisk the measured egg yolks and egg whites. Add the vanilla and whisk until lightly combined.
MAKE THE BATTER
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, whip the cream on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised.
- Starting on medium-low speed, gradually beat in the egg mixture and continue beating for 2 minutes. The mixture will thicken into mayonnaise consistency (if high-butterfat cream is used, it will be less thick). Gradually beat in the sugar; it should take about 30 seconds to incorporate it.
- Remove the bowl from the stand. Add half the flour mixture to the cream mixture and with a flat wire whisk, or the whisk from the stand mixer, stir and fold it in until most of the flour disappears. Add the rest of the flour mixture and continue folding and mixing until all traces of flour have disappeared. Finish with a silicone spatula, reaching to the bottom of the bowl.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Run a metal spatula or dull knife blade through the batter, to prevent large air bubbles, avoiding the bottom of the pan, and smooth the surface with a small offset spatula. The pan will be half full.
BAKE THE CAKE
- Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted between the center tube and sides of the pan comes out completely clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.
COOL AND UNMOLD THE CAKE
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cool completely.
Notes
Airtight: room temperature, 3 days; refrigerated, 1 week; frozen, 3 months POINTERS FOR SUCCESS The bowl and beaters for whipping the cream should not be chilled because the eggs will not emulsify as readily if the whipped cream is too cold. For the smoothest top crust, to eliminate bubbles from the airy batter, start filling the pan by spreading a little of the batter into the grooves of the pan and pressing it in with a silicone spatula. Then add the remaining batter. UNDERSTANDING
Compared to a basic layer cake, this cake has about 18 to 25 percent more butterfat, depending on the fat content of the cream, and almost the same amount of water content. It also has one extra egg, balanced by less baking powder. A lower amount of vanilla is needed because of the floral quality of the cream. COMPLEMENTARY ADORNMENTS
A light dusting of powdered sugar or whipped cream and berries
Looks great
My original copy of The Cake Bible is falling apart, but it is the most treasured baking book I own. I can’t wait to make this cake.
I have loved my edition of the Cake Bible for many years. Every cake I have baked ( and there have been many, many) has been superb.
Thank you Rose!
I have the original baking book. Can’t wait to see the updates.
Thank you!
Recipe looks fantastic, love a great cake.
I will make make Rose’s special chocolate cake.
Looking forward to trying this cake, it sounds delightful for a summer party or anytime really! I have some bundt pans that are itching for a new recipe 🙂
Do you have any suggestions on how I could use gluten free flour (Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1)in this recipe?
Hi Sue! Zoë doesn’t think this recipe would work with a 1:1 gluten-free flour because it calls specifically for bleached cake flour rather than all-purpose.
This cake would be so good with fresh berries this summer! Thank you for sharing the recipe and for the opportunity to win this classic cookbook! I would be thrilled to get this!
Going to make for Father’s Day!
I’d love the pan!!
Looking forward to making this cake for my birthday soon!!
Just happened to have everything I need to make this cake today along with delicious fresh ripe strawberries from the garden. It hanks so much ch for sharing the recipe
Hi Zoe! For real I love everything you do. Each time I make a meringue I follow your recipe and your way of mounting it on top of pies etc.!! The best!! Thank you!!
Now…hopefully I’ll win this beautiful cookbook.
Looks great! Excited to try it.
I’ll be purchasing this book for sure ❤️
The whipped cream cake looks like perfection!
I feel certain this cake is going to pull me out of my baking rut and get my baking mojo back. It looks absolutely divine. Thank you and I can’t wait to order the revised version of The Cake Bible.
My sister is the baker of the family, but I still try my hand at it every now and again. This looks awesome and will be my first try at a bundt cake (I have my grandmother’s old heavy pan) in a while. Thanks for sharing the recipe, and for the chance at getting a copy of the Cake Bible!
This cake is wonderful. My son-in-law wants it every year for Father’s Day and his Birthday.
No cake is left behind…plate is empty by the end of the party.
It appears I need a new Bundt pan! Swapping out the butter for whipping cream, so imaginative! Thank you for sharing the recipe and the book ❤️
This looks amazing, can’t wait to give it a try. I know there will be happy Fathers everywhere!
Can’t wait to make this cake. It looks amazing!
I’ll be making this recipe this weekend. I have just picked fresh strawberries from my community garden. Yum! The Cake Bible is a book I really need to add to my baking library.
How have I never heard of this cookbook? Would love to get my hands on a copy!