Baby Shower Cakes

Place a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 375 degrees.
Butter the wells of an egg-cake pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter,
and dust the wells with 1 tablespoon of the flour; tap out any excess
flour. Set the pan aside. Sift together the remaining 1 cup plus 3
tablespoons flour and the baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,
soften the remaining 10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons butter.
Gradually add the sugar, and beat until light and fluffy, stopping
occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the orange
zest and vanilla seeds and beat to combine. Add the eggs one at a
time, mixing well after each addition and scraping sides of bowl. Add
the sifted flour to the butter mixture. Beat on low speed just until
incorporated.

Spoon the batter evenly among the cups. Bake for 10 minutes, lower
the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake for an additional 10 to
15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out
clean. Transfer egg-cake pan to a wire rack, and let cool slightly.
Invert pan onto wire rack and remove cakes. Cool thoroughly.

Using a serrated knife, trim the edges of the cakes. Carefully cut the
cakes in half horizontally. Shave a small portion off of the bottom
of half so it will sit flat. (The bottom half of the cake will be
used as the body of the bassinet.) Halve the top half crosswise.
Discard one half, (1/4 of the cake) and reserve the other half to use
as the sunshade for the bassinet. Transfer to a parchment-lined
baking sheet, cut-side down.

Make Swiss meringue buttercream. Set aside 1/2 cup to tint pink and
1/2 cup to tint blue. Set aside the remaining 2 cups to leave white.

SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM: Combine the egg whites, sugar, and
vanilla in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set the bowl
over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until the sugar has
dissolved and whites are hot to the touch, 5 to 7 minutes.

Transfer the bowl to the electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment,
mix on low speed, gradually increasing to high speed, until stiff,
glossy peaks form, about 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, beat butter until creamy and fluffy.

At low speed, add the butter to the egg whites until smooth. Add the
vanilla and continue mixing until incorporated. (Makes 5-1/2 cups)

Decorate cakes. Place some of the white buttercream into a small
pastry bag fitted with a #46 Ateco basketweave tip. Pipe a
basketweave design onto the curved surfaces. Transfer to the
refrigerator until chilled and set, about 30 minutes.

Remove cakes from refrigerator. Using a small spatula, invert cakes
flat-side up, and spread the surfaces with a smooth, even layer of
some of the white buttercream. Using a small offset spatula, transfer
the small “sunshade” piece, smallest-side down to sit on the bottom
half, so that the exposed basketweave of both pieces are flush to
form a bassinet.

Tint the reserved 1/2 cup buttercream pale pink using Wilton
Christmas Red. Tint the other reserved 1/2 cup buttercream pale blue
using Wilton Sky Blue. Using a small offset spatula, spread a smooth
mound of pink or blue buttercream on the lower two-thirds of the
bassinet to create a “blanketed bundle”.

Transfer the remaining white buttercream into a small pastry bag
fitted with a coupler. Remove the tip and with only the coupler pipe
a white buttercream “head” just above the blanket.

Attach a #45 Ateco straight tip. Pipe a straight line across the top
edge of the blanket to create a “fold” in the blanket.

Attach a #352 Ateco leaf tip. Pipe a ruffled border around edges of
the basketweave. Remove the leaf tip. Decorate blankets as desired
with remaining white buttercream.

Makes 8.