Rating: 
Summary: A Cook Book For Real People with Real Lives
Review: I love this cookbook! I don't have a lot of time to spend baking. This book helps me make quick, good-looking, better-tasting cakes. It is full of good ideas that you can mix and match.
Rating: 
Summary: Some good ones...
Review: I've now made a few recipes from this book and I would definitely recommend the chocolate ones. I made the sour cream chocolate cupcakes, but put on the quick caramel frosting, and they were out of this world! Seriously -- I've made them three times now and can't get enough. That icing is awesome. I originally made the cupcakes with the sour cream chocolate frosting, but found it to be too thin. Also, the yellow mix recipes don't cover the flavor of cake mix very well. Plus, the texture is still spongey and compact, unlike the chocolate recipes.The chocolate peanut butter bars are also awesome. I think the recipes are just pretty much hit or miss. The good ones are great and the bad ones still taste like cake mix (if not worse because you're expecting something so much better!!).
Rating:
Summary: A Fun Cookbook with Great Results
Review: Cakes are my weakness and this book is great for turning those good ol' mixes into some tantilizing treats. The fruit fillings are special and the bundt cakes have our potluck friends asking for more. As with any cookbook not every recipe hits a homerun with me but I am sure they will in someone elses kitchen. There are definitely enough great ideas in here to justify its cost. We gave some for Christmas gifts. Thanks to the author for a worthwhile addition to our cooking library!!
Rating: 
Summary: Adequate At Best
Review: I bought this book with a lot of high hopes. What I got was a lot of second rate cakes that still tasted like cardboard boxes. The chocolate or more heavily flavored cakes turned out better than the white or yellow cakes, but considering all the preparations needed for most of these, it doesn't take any longer to bake from scratch. I grew up with a pastry chef for a grandmother. I remember what real homebaked goodies tasted like. Give yourself a break and try to bake from scratch when you can. You'll be amazed at the difference in flavor and texture. There are some nice simple baking books out there that can give you all the recipes you might ever need. Overall, this book can work for people interested in having a wide variety of cakes but not especially interested in baking. I was disappointed. It's on my "giveaway" shelf at the moment.
Rating:
Summary: I've been converted!
Review: Like many others, I wasn't so sure about this book at first. It is a really fun read, but could box cakes really taste like they're made from scratch? So far I've made one chocolate cake, one coffee cake and the Bacardi Rum cake. All three cakes tasted great with the chocolate and the coffee cakes tasting homemade. The Rum cake tasted like a cake mix cake but it was still very good. I've given the book a 5 star rating just because I'm so excited about making more cakes. I've already bought two more boxes of mix to experiment with. There's nothing quite like a little success in the kitchen.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth having in your collection
Review: I checked this book out at the library and last night made the Banana Cake with Caramel Frosting. It would have been better if I'd found the banana liqueur, but it wasn't at my local grocer. Last night the cake was simply 'okay', (although the frosting was great) but today the cake was pretty darn good. My sister loved it, and made me take a picture of it because she thought it was so pretty. (She doesn't get out much). As with most cookbooks, you'll probably will only use a third of the recipes, but after reading this book, I'm sure you'll make good use of that third. I'll be purchasing this book soon.
Rating:
Summary: AT LAST...
Review: At last a cookbook for me - a cake maker who does not have time for 5 page recipes. I actually sat down and read this book like a novel. The author has so many helpful hints throughout the book that I just kept reading. There were many recipes I knew about but did not have. I have been a "cake doctor" for years - always starting with a cake mix and going from there. I think makes a great gift for anyone who likes to bake. FIVE STARS>
Rating:
Summary: So far, not impressed
Review: I just made the sherry-poppy seed cake for dinner, and, admittedly, it was incredibly easy and fast. But I found it horribly sweet and fake-tasting. I am impressed by all these other raves, so I will try at least one other cake before giving up and going back to my old, labor-intensive from-scratch favorites. One thing is sure -- this is a fun cookbook read, and for certain purposes (like toddler birthdays) it's probably worth saving some time and skipping the Cake Bible.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect For A Bachelor
Review: I am a single guy. With this book I make great, impressive desserts for office parties or even an intimate dinner. Hey, we guys can bake too! It's easy to follow and I get all sorts of compliments from the ladies! Especially on my lemon squares!
Rating:
Summary: Fun, Fast, & Oh So Delicious
Review: The Cake Mix Doctor is in! And the prescription is simple: By doctoring up packaged cake mix with just the right extras--a touch of sweet butter here, cocoa powder there, or poppy seeds, vanilla yogurt, sherry, eggs, and grated lemon zest for the Charleston Poppy Seed Cake--even the least experienced baker can turn out luscious signature desserts, time after time. The proof is in the taste, and the taste never stops--from Toasted Coconut Sour Cream Cake to Devilishly Good Chocolate Cake; from a to-die-for Caramel Cake and a Holiday Yule Log to cheesecakes, coffee cakes, sheet cakes, pound cakes, bars, brownies, and those all-important frostings. Here are 175 fast, foolproof recipes that will transform the art of home baking in America. Who could believe these cakes came out of a box? Moist, tender, rich, deep, and complexly flavored, without a hint of artificiality, each cake stand up and delivers. But without any of the fuss of baking from scratch. Anne Byrn, an award-wining food writer and self-described purist, creates recipes that employ a cake mix's strengths---convenience, ease-of-use, dependability, and almost imperviousness to overbeating, underbeating, overbaking, and underbaking. In addition to the recipes are the Cake Mix Doctor's Q&A's, extensive "Doctor Says" tips, lists--15 Beautiful Birthday Cakes, 15 Cakes That Will Cash in at a Bake Sale--and more, all illustrated in a full-color photographic insert.
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