Black & White Cake Goes Pretty in Pink

Pretty in Pink Black and White Cake

For the Birthday Girl

When a friend asks for a chocolate cake for her birthday, a chocolate cake she gets. As Vintage Cakes author Julie Richardson notes, the Black & White Cake is “the reverse of the classic white cake with chocolate frosting.”

I knew a two-layer dark chocolate cake would rise to the occasion, with chocolate ganache as an indulgent bonus. The vanilla bean buttercream was my opportunity to make it festive — a rich chocolate cake, pretty in pink and white for the birthday girl.

Richness in the Making

The making of the cake batter was relatively basic, although the incorporation of sour cream, butter, dark brown sugar, and extra egg yolk promised a moist, rich chocolate cake. It’s incredible to me how many chocolate cake variations exist.

Ganache is pretty foolproof—chocolate and heavy cream marry into a velvety, molten chocolate. The buttercream frosting takes a little more skill. I’ve said it before—and I’ll keep saying it—egg whites are amazing. Who discovered that you can make a creamy, workable frosting with merely egg whites, sugar, and butter?

An Unexpected Twist

The recipe called for Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa, but I used Dutch-processed cocoa instead. But it’s okay! The recipe said I could. 

The dark cocoa was whisked into hot coffee and sour cream for a rich, chocolatey slurry. The twist I put on it was using my leftover dulce de leche flavored morning coffee. The flavor prevailed in the end product, infusing a complex, almost toffee-like flavor profile.

This slightly non-traditional confection had several rich, decadent elements, taking the basic chocolate cake up a notch.

Fit for a Chocolate-Loving Princess

The final confection was an elevated chocolate cake fit for a chocolate-loving pink party princess. Rich, dark chocolate layers were upgraded with a slathering of velvety ganache.

The dreamy vanilla bean buttercream melted on the tongue and smoothly concealed the chocolate layers. Although the frosting was delicate, it held pink rosettes beautifully.

The consensus was that this cake should make a return appearance. Perfect—now I’ll be able to try it with the Hershey’s Special Dark.

The Transcend Moment

The frosting was forgiving—creamy, light, easy to work with—gliding smoothly over the cake surface without pulling up those nasty little loose crumbs. The bespeckled white frosting expertly concealed the dark chocolate cake beneath. What it didn’t hide was my somewhat uneven cake and suffering decorating skills. I’ve lost the knack.

Previously, I would have stressed over the lopsided cake and mismatched roses. I probably would have stripped it of the offensive flowers, and scraped the frosting back to the crumb coat, rebuilding it and going to bed late.

But here is evidence that I’m making progress with my cognitive behavioral therapy: I paused. I took hold of my initial emotions and questioned them.

I knew my friends wouldn’t care. The cake wouldn’t taste any better with extra fuss—in fact, the pursuit of visual aesthetics may have cost the texture. 

In the end, nobody refused to indulge in the crooked cake with varying-sized rosettes. After all, don’t roses in nature all look a little different? The effort was appreciated and even complimented.

I did use the “good” pink sprinkles—the ones reserved for special occasions such as this.

And maybe that’s the real victory here—not perfectly piped roses or bakery-level symmetry, but knowing when to stop fussing and start enjoying. The cake showed up a little uneven, a little imperfect… and still completely worthy of celebration. Much like the rest of us.