Rating: 
Summary: Simple and Delicious - And One Cake Might Not Be Enough!
Review: I purchased this book two months ago, and almost didn't because of some of the negative comments. I AM SO GLAD I DIDN'T PASS THIS ONE UP! By now, I'm sure you have the idea...the author starts you off with a box mix, along with a few additions, and viola! - a great cake - and I mean great. The first one I made was a banana cake with caramel and pecan frosting. After tasting this one, my adult children promptly begged me to make two more so they could take them home. That has been the norm since. Really, truly, the improvements are simple, taking just a few minutes, and the cakes are great. This book is a good investment and will always be in my cookbook library.
Rating:
Summary: Overall good and easy
Review: I have enjoyed this cookbook which has a picture for every recipe. I have been baking cakes for years and once believed from scratch was the only way. But, I believe cake mixes have come a long way, indeed, which is why I feel this cookbook is a good choice, especially for those who are inexperienced cooks or on a busy schedule. Most of the recipes I have tried are good. Some of the cakes are a little heavy-textured, however. Make sure you use the right kind of cake mix as the author firmly directs and don't add extra oil! The plain cheesecake, chocolate devil's food layer, and finger licking good cake turned out well. The book also has other recipes for cookies, bars, etc. which make it interesting also. A good cookbook for a fairly small price. Go for it!
Rating:
Summary: Quick Cakes that Rock!
Review: I've made several of the cakes from this book when pressed for time, with great results! And while I still like to bake from scratch, it's nice to be able to give people a spontaneous invitation to dinner at 5:00 p.m. and whip up a cake for dessert with no problem.Most of the recipes are of the "dump" variety, so you can throw everything together into the mixing bowl at once and beat for about 3 minutes, then bake. They couldn't be easier, and as the author explains, the cake mix manufacturers have gotten the mixes down to a science - you simply can't ruin the cakes without trying *really* hard. My family's favorite is the fresh orange cake, which I've tweaked with different kinds of fruit juices/nectars. Depending on what you use, the cake takes on the beautiful color of the juice, and is so moist it needs no frosting - I use a decorative cake mold (see Williams-Sonoma) and a dusting of powdered sugar, and voila - a beautiful, impressive cake that tastes (and is) homemade and is still sophisticated. It tastes equally good with coffee or a tall glass of milk. This book is definitely worth buying and using!
Rating: 
Summary: Want to cheat and get away with it? Then this is your book!
Review: Right out of the gate, if you are a baking snob and can't get past the idea of boxed cake mix, instant pudding or canned cherries then walk on by. But if you are someone like me, who loves to bake and occasionally needs a "good cheat" due to your crazy, time-pressured life, then whip out your wallet and buy a copy of this bad-boy. I have made about seven or eight cakes out of this book and have had very good results. The author is adventurous in her flavoring ideas and manages to lift a Duncan Hines mix from ordinary to interesting (and in many cases, company-worthy). There are lots of ideas here, which can easily inspire your own variations. It's well worth every penny of its modest cover price.
Rating:
Summary: Cook up a storm of Exotic Cakes
Review: I LOVE the Cake Mix Doctor. I've purchased several copies to give to friends, and they've always been extremely well received. The Cake Mix doctor is a series of books which show you how to augment existing 'boxed' cake mixes for best results! Learn how to make Irish Almond Caraway Cake, Cannoli Cake, Ambrosia Cake and much more! Each recipe has step by step instructions, and contains an explanation and description of each cake. This books is a 'must have' for creative cooks everywhere.There is also now a sequel "Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor," which looks great as well.
Rating: 
Summary: good, but from scratch is better
Review: I have this book, and have made 5 different recipes from it. My husband loves the Kahlua cake, and I love the Strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting. I made the Holy cow cake for a Halloween party (black and orange) I was really disapointed in it. It calls for Caramel and sweetened condensed milk to be poured over the top while the cake is still warm. It was like pudding. Very embarrasing. I also made the Amarretto cake, it baked up just beautiful, and then fell into the middle. My advise would be to follow the directions very closely, but no matter what you do, nothing beats a homemade from scratch cake. Some of these recipes take longer than it would to put together a cake from scratch to begin with. Good luck, and keep looking for a better cake recipe book, there are others that are much better.
Rating:
Summary: Good book for what it is -- but a few caveats...
Review: This book is VERY well written and fun to read, and loaded with good hints on baking in general, why cake mixes taste and perform the way they do, etc. But my results have been mixed. So far I've tried the Fresh Orange Cake, the lemon cake that follows two pages later, and the Macadamia Fudge Torte, all of which were outstanding. But the Double Chocolate Chewies (cookies), Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars, Pumpkin Spice Cake, and Banana Loaves were just OK. The Apple Walnut Crisp, while extremely easy, was not very good -- it tasted like what it was: apple pie filling with dry cake mix on top and then a full cup (ouch!) of melted butter poured on top! And my real disaster was the Zesty Cranberry Cake (one of the few low-fat ones). It tasted like baby aspirin, besides being dense and heavy, and my husband and I couldn't swallow it, even though we love cranberries.
I have a few general complaints also. One, I wish there were more light/ low fat recipes. Most of the recipes are "doctored" by adding extra eggs and LOTS of fat to them (among other things), and I can't bring myself to put that stuff into my body very often.
Second, she recommends using an electric mixer for just about every recipe (I assume to give the illusion of "quick and easy"), but some of the doughs are much too stiff to use the mixer unless you have a very strong commercial machine. Third, there are a LOT of repeats in the book! For example, the Chocolate Better-than-Sex Cake is exactly the same recipe as the Darn Good Chocolate Cake, and there are many other repeats, sometimes with tiny variations, and sometimes with nothing more than a name change or a different type of pan. And finally, I do a lot of from-scratch baking and I really don't find that using a mix saves me that much time. After all, mixing your dry ingredients only takes a few minutes. With Byrn's recipes you still have to zest the lemons, melt the butter, grease & flour the pan, wash the dishes, etc.
I think this book is best for those whose scratch recipes mysteriously fail, because Byrn's recipes are pretty foolproof and avoid your having to measure dry ingreds precisely (which is often the cause of scratch-baking failures). If you're good at scratch baking and have the few extra minutes to mix your dry ingreds., you should probably stick with scratch for best results!
PS: My review should be *3* stars -- for some reason Amazon has kept it at 4 despite my trying to change it!
Rating:
Summary: Rediscoverd Jewel
Review: To be honest I bought this book about three years ago and tried only one recipe. It did not turn out well but that was my fault. Recently a co-worker brought in "Hornet's Nest" cake and got rave reviews. I made it twice this week to take in for birthdays, one being my boss's. I told her there was one slice left if she wanted to take it home to her husband. She grinned and said no that they were going to Michigan this weekend and she was stopping on the way to buy the ingredients to make it for everyone they will be with! My advice is read the directions and use only the type of mix called for. It makes a huge difference in the way it comes out...trust me on this! Bottom line it is a very creative book.
Rating:
Summary: Handy Guide to Good Quickie Desserts
Review: I must say I have enjoyed using this book, and I'm NOT a big cake eater. I have made several of the cakes, and have particularly enjoyed the Lemon Buttermilk Poppyseed and Chocolate Pistachio cakes. I was disappointed in Susan's Lemon Cake and the Fresh Orange cakes, not because they weren't good but because they were somewhat boring. For example when making the latter I added orange zest and chocolate chips to the batter, and put a chocolate glaze on top. I don't think my additional efforts were worth it, though, because it still tasted like cake from a mix. I believe that novice or occasional bakers will appreciate this book, but the more adventurous will grow bored with the results of some of the recipes and begin to look for ways to doctor them even more (which, I suppose, can be fun in itself, provided the efforts are worth it). However, in the final analysis, nothing takes the place of the flavor, texture, and wholesomeness (remember that word? One that Little Debbie and Sara Lee, with their chemical-laden, tasteless concoctions, would just as soon you forget?) of a cake baked from scratch, and those who enjoy cooking just as much as eating don't necessarily consider it a complete burden to take the extra steps; on the contrary, with scratch cooking the ends often very well justify the means. I would not recommend this book to someone who just wants to bake something quickly so they can eat it and get even fatter. Americans need to learn a lesson from their thinner, healthier bretheren over in Europe, which is that when it comes to food, convenience is not everything, and often means sacrificing purity and healthfulness and increasing fat and calories instead of flavor. Therein lies the Achilles Heel of books like this. How healthy is it to eat something that was invented in a corporate laboratory, deliberately to appeal to mass consumption? Think about it. THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE PUTTING INTO YOUR BODY.
Rating:
Summary: Kitchen Widower
Review: I bought this book for my Aunt as a gift and she absolutely loved it. My wife took one look at the book and she had to have it as well. I got both cake doctor books. I know nothing about cooking, but I can tell you this is the highest praise I have ever heard from two people who make collecting cookbooks and art form.
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