Rating: 
Summary: Not all that I hoped it would be
Review: I have baked about six or so of the recipes....all of which have been dry and not very good. I have even tried redoing the same recipe in hopes that it was just me that goofed, but again the cakes weren't all that great. The directions are hard to follow and have you flipping around from the cake recipe, to the filling recipe, to the frosting recipe....just to complete one cake. I found that a lot of the ingredients I had to go to gourmet/specialty stores to get them and some got costly. I have been doing cakes for many years for everything from home treats to clients weddings but I would never use this book as my basis.
Rating: 
Summary: If you are a serious baker...
Review: This is a must in any baker's kitchen. It is a great starting point to achieve the perfect cake, and a great tool for futher experimentation and perfection.
From the photos to the recipes, it is a well written book about baking cakes.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: If you love baking, this book is a gem. This is for the serious baker. The recipes are the best, not the easiest. If you want to learn everthing from tempering chocolate to clarifying butter, this is the book for you. It is not a picture book, but a school-type book. It lends itself to be studied as a college text- highlighter and all. Fabulous!
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL!
Review: This book takes you, painlessly, step by step through the baking process while explaining the necessity of each ingredient. Besides the wonderful scientific approach, there are loads of recipes that are excellent. I recommend this book for anyone who is serious about making deliciously perfect cakes!
Rating:
Summary: Delicious sour cream coffee cake
Review: I am a college student, and a new baker. I tried my first coffee cake from this book, the sour cream coffee cake with streusal filling, with the optional slices of apple, and it came out wonderful! It was so moist, buttery, tender, melt-in-your mouth, and not too sweet. It was so good freshly baked, and also good warmed the next day. The directions are very clear, which I needed, and the ingredients list is explicit. I did not substitute, but used quality ingredients. My family loved it, even those that didn't like cake. It's very tender, so let it cool a bit before attempting to move it!
I also just made the lemon curd, which was very, very good! It looks so beautiful, and tastes so fresh. I never made lemon curd before, but the directions were explicit, and the eggs did not curdle at all. It is really yummy, tart, and not too sugary.
Rating:
Summary: Not enough modern recipes
Review: I found the section on the science of baking to be invaluable and refer to it constantly. However, overall, there weren't enough recipes to justify the cost of the book. In addition, I tried 4 recipes and they were all too dry (even with all the butter that her recipes call for, which made the cakes extremely tender). The "dry" feel is the type where you can't take a bite of cake without needing to take a gulp of milk or other liquid. I used a digital scale, since I do think it produces more accurate results, so I don't think it was a measuring error on my part. I also use various thermometers to make sure my oven is at the right temperature. A more modern book, with moister recipes, seems to be the Carol Walters Great Cakes book--I loved the Absolutely Best Yellow Cake recipe.
Rating: 
Summary: Tasty Cakes
Review: I have baked about 10 or so cakes from this book and so far everyone has been a success. Not all have been sensational but all have been edible and some have been a huge hit with friends. There are some general tips, advice and nutrional information provided as well as some great pictures. The receipes range from simple pound cakes to more intricate wedding cakes and even includes waffles, crepes and cookies. The receipes are easy to follow and if you are unsure of certain ingredients you can check the reference at the back.
Rating:
Summary: A good source book!
Review: I have only used this a few times- when I wanted to make a specific cake and could not find the recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks. It covers everything - but the recipes aren't ar rich as some of my other books. I figure, If you are going to eat cake- the richer the better... Though not everyone agrees- This book does cover the subject well and the recipes can be modified to taste.
Rating:
Summary: Puny Pound Cakes
Review: I have successfully made the Chocolate Angel Food cake. However, everytime I try one of the pound cakes it doesn't work. Being from the South, I have made many pound cakes and never had this problem. I would not recommend this book to anyone at this point.
Rating:
Summary: Oh dear, not an auspicious start!
Review: I must admit up front that I've only made one cake thus far from this new-to-me book (Golden Almond Cake, p. 37) but have made it twice, with great care, and both were remarkable failures. Having baked cakes much of my life, and having NEVER before failed (infact having so consistently produced high, moist, fine-crumbed, delicious cakes that I considered cake-making, before this, a breeze) I'm really stunned. Like other readers, I'm very impressed with the content, organization, etc. of this book and yet ... if several more promising recipes mysteriously fail, you will hear back from me!
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