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
I have all of Rose’s and your cookbooks. I’d love a chance to win this epic new book to add to my collection. Thank you for the opportunity hopefully win this prize!
Thank you for sharing this and many other wonderful recipes! For the ones of us who live vicariously through y’alls amazing journey with baking, we are grateful!
Thank you so much for gifting the recipe! I’m looking forward to baking it this weekend and would love to add the new book to my collection!
I can’t wait to try this recipe and have an opportunity to add this cookbook to my rotating collection. This looks perfect for summer.
This recipe looks AMAZING! I’d love to have Rose’s beautiful book to inspire more cake creations. Thanks Zoe!
Excited to try this cake!
This looks so good, if I don’t win the book I’ll likely buy it anyway!
I cannot wait to try this recipe!! Love Zoe and Rose! All of their recipes are flawless
This recipe looks fantastic, I can’t wait to try. I am new at taking my baking to the next level and Zoe has been very inspiring!
Thank you for your generosity in sharing this and other perfect recipes!
This cake looks heavenly!! I can’t wait to make it and pair with summer fruit.
ps Zoe’s interview with Rose Levy Beranbaum made me smile!
This looks so wonderful, I’m excited to make it! And what a great excuse to get that fluted bundt that’s been on my list! What strikes me, too, is it looks like an elevated, refined version of a very basic budget cake we grew up enjoying.
Stunning. I can’t wait to try it.
Look forward to baking this cake for Father’s Day and would love to have the Cake Bible, from one of my two favorite bakers. Thank you for sharing the recipe and the chance to win the GIVEWAY
I would love to try and enjoy the cakes in The Cake Bible!!
Thank you for the recipe I’d love to have the new book to inspire more cake baking.
Rose, your Cake Bible walked me through my first major project – making many white chocolate cheesecakes for my wedding 35 years ago! This recipe is a family favorite. Thank you for all the sweetness you’ve brought into our lives. I have kearned so much from you (and Zoe too!)
Making this wonderful cake for Father’s Day!
Wonderful cake. And the old cake bible is a must have. The new one probably too. Thank you Rose. And Zoe for presenting this to us.
Sounds like a perfect pairing with strawberries that are in season. Yum.
Looking forward to making this cake simple let delicious.
Looks like a scrumptious cake and I’m very intrigued by the cookbook.
I like you both, but I’ve loved Rose the longest. There were so many Sunday afternoon bookstore visits with our young sons, where I’d head for the Cake Bible, and they’d pick up whatever. Eventually, the guys gifted me a copy, and 30+ years later it looks like somebody’s grandma’s cookbook. I’ve marked and occasionally read aloud favorite stories (brother’s wedding cake, sifting as litmus test for potential beaus…) and without getting mushier, will just say thanks to Rose, and note that the best stack of bibles in my house are Rose Levy Berenbaum bibles.❤️
Rose’s recipes and Zoe’s recipes work! Thank you – this looks delicious!
Great interview with Rose!
I’m very excited to bake this cake. And, I would love to win a copy of her book.
Thank you!