Paige Swenson Lindell

Most cakes derive their structure from two techniques: either whipping eggs and sugar together to form a sponge or creaming butter and sugar into a suspension that creates structure. Then traditionally, the flour is sifted on top and folded in.  

The cake recipe that I offer here, goes off-book and starts by combining the dry ingredients including the flour with both the soft room temperature butter and milk. This gets mixed into a putty, after which additional eggs and milk are added. 

It would seem that to follow this recipe, to diverge so far from what we know, would be an act of faith. It would be risky to put novelty to work on top of the cake pedestal, the piece de resistance of celebrations both large and small. I would never suggest it if we were not being led there by the hand of Rose Levy Beranbaum. 

Who is Beranbaum, and why would you want to follow her, you may ask? She is a woman who has approached cake with the meticulous eye of a scientist. Mixing cake after cake, she took careful notes on each outcome, compiling years of research. She wrote her Master’s dissertation on whether sifting dry ingredients effectively mixes its contents. Spoiler alert: it does not. She is a woman who promptly threw her boyfriend to the curb when he questioned, over dinner, the validity and worth of that dissertation. 

Beranbaum is the pioneer of the reverse creaming method, and a woman who generously shared her research in book form many times. Her foundational text, The Cake Bible, copyright 1988, is where this recipe is originally printed. She is also one more woman whose interests and work have been judged by a patriarchal structure that historically belittles the mastery of the domestic as either accidental or inconsequential. 

Like the accomplishments they celebrate, great cakes rely on a balance of structural strength and uncommon tenderness. In life, circumstances often contrive to favor one over the other, when in reality they work better in combination. What luck, that we live in a world where we have the opportunity to taste both in the same bite. 

Notes on the recipe: I would like to think of myself as a badass like Beranbaum, but I am the opposite kind of badbass, the one that throws caution to the wind and is incapable of making a recipe the same way twice. Below are my notes:  

Beranbaum’s original recipe calls for 6 egg yolks, my frugality disallows this, and the cake is none worse for the wear. She would most likely disagree. You probably should try it once as written.

Beranbaum suggests 2, 9 ½ in. circular cake pans buttered with parchment. I normally bake this cake as 24 cupcakes, or in a 9 X 13 in. pan, because well, who has time to make layer cakes? Maybe you?

Oh, and yes, you really do need room temperature butter. Use a microwave if you must, but try not to go overboard. 

Recipe:

The cake combines the soft texture of white cake with the buttery flavor of yellow cake.

Ingredients:

-6 large egg yolks

-1 c. milk

-2 1/4 t vanilla

-3 c. cake flour (300g)

-1 1/2 c. sugar (300g)

1 T + 1 t of baking powder

3/4 t of salt

12 T unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.

In a medium bowl lightly combine the yolks, 1/4 c. 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 the remaining 3/4 c. 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 1/2 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.

Scrape the batter into prepared pans. Pans will be 1/2 full. Bake 25 to 35 minutes until an inserted tester comes out clean and cake springs back.

Find the full recipe in, Rose Levy Beranbaum’s, The Cake Bible