Sex Reveal Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in the middle. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans, and line bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Butter paper and dust both pans with flour, tapping out excess.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Scrape vanilla seeds into bowl with a paring knife, reserving pod for another use.
• With the mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with milk and starting and ending with dry ingredients; scrape down sides of bowl once or twice to ensure proper combining.
• In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating on medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. (Do not overmix the whites; if they appear curdled or broken, the cake will not rise.) Whisk one-third of the whites into the batter to lighten, then carefully fold in the rest of the whites.
• Divide batter between prepared cake pans (about 4 cups batter each). Bake until a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean and cakes are just beginning to pull away from sides of pans, 30 to 40 minutes. (Do not overbake.) Transfer pans to wire racks and cool for 10 minutes. Run an offset spatula around the edge of each cake, then reinvert cakes onto racks. Remove parchment; cool cakes completely. Refrigerate 1 hour or up to overnight, wrapped well in plastic (or freeze up to 1 month).
• Meanwhile, place 4 1/2 cups buttercream in a medium bowl. Add jam and enough food coloring to reach desired shade of pink or blue; stir to combine.
• Reinvert cakes and trim tops with a serrated knife to make level. Using a ruler as a guide, insert toothpicks halfway up side of cake, all around. Slice each cake in half horizontally using toothpicks as your guides. Place one cake layer on a piece of parchment or a cardboard cake round. Top with 1 1/2 cups colored buttercream, spreading evenly. Top with another cake layer; repeat with remaining colored buttercream and cake layers, ending with cake. Let set in refrigerator 2 hours.
• Frost top and sides of cake evenly with remaining buttercream. Serve.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three 6-inch cake pans with cooking spray. Line each pan with parchment paper rounds. Spray the parchment paper and flour pans. Tap the pans over a sink or trash can to get rid of excess flour.
• Place the cake mix, water, oil and egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium for 2 minutes. Dye with food coloring, either a shade of blue or pink depending on the gender. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
• For the buttercream: Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the confectioners' sugar and milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, alternating between the two until no lumps remain. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until incorporated.
• Trim the dome off each cake layer. Cut the center out of 2 cake layers with a 2-inch round cookie cutter. Leave the third cake layer whole.
• Place 1 cake layer with a hole on a plate or 6-inch cardboard cake drum on a rotating cake stand. Spread some of the buttercream over top with an offset spatula, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the hole. Repeat with the other cake layer with a hole. Fill the center with the blue or pink sprinkles. Spread some of the buttercream over top. Top with the remaining whole cake layer with the bottom facing up. Spread some of the buttercream over top and sides of the cake to create a crumb coat. Chill at least 20 minutes.
• Spread the remaining buttercream over the top and sides of the cake.
• While the buttercream is still somewhat sticky, hold the cake with one hand over a rimmed baking sheet. With the other hand, grab a handful of the white sprinkles and press up the sides of the cake, starting from the bottom. Cover the top with the white sprinkles. Cut, watch it explode and serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease or spray two 8-inch round pans; place 8-inch round piece of cooking parchment paper in bottom of each pan. Grease or spray parchment paper. In large bowl, beat 1 box cake mix and ingredients called for on box with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on high speed about 2 minutes or until smooth. Spread in pans. Bake as directed on box. Cool 10 minutes; run knife around sides of pans to loosen cakes. Gently remove from pans to cooling rack; remove parchment paper. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Repeat to make 2 more layers.
• Flatten cake layers by trimming off rounded tops. In 2 layers, cut small round out of center, using 4-inch round cutter.
• To assemble cake: Place 1 uncut cake layer on cake stand or serving platter; spread 1/3 cup frosting on top. Top with 1 layer with center removed; spread 1/3 cup frosting on top. Top with second layer with center removed; spread 1/3 cup frosting on top. Fill cake with candies and candy sprinkles. Gently press candies to level, top with full cake layer. Frost side and top of cake using remaining frosting. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottoms of 2 greased 8-in. round baking pans with parchment; grease and flour paper., In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition., Transfer to prepared pans. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in each center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove parchment. Cool completely., Place a large bowl and beaters in freezer until cold, about 15 minutes. In chilled bowl, beat cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in cream until firm peaks form. Tint 1-1/4 cups blue and 1/4 cup pink (switch measurements if it's a girl), and leave remaining frosting white., Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate. Pipe a circle of white frosting around top edge of layer. Spread 1 cup blue (or pink if it's a girl) frosting inside white frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Frost top and sides with white frosting. Using a #8 tip and white frosting, pipe pearls around top and bottom edges of cake. Using a #12 tip, pipe blue and pink dots over cake. With a #4 tip and pink frosting, add "It's a ... " to top of cake. Refrigerate until serving.