The Cake Bible

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Summary: Make stunning, rave-review cakes
Review: I once joined a book club and ordered several copies of this because it was a bargain. After they arrived, I discovered I'd hit a home run. I liked it so much I put a plastic cover on it. My wife gave away the extra copies to our daughter and to her friends. But the REAL TEST came when she started making recipes from it. One of them is such a hit that all her friends DEMAND she make the cake for the big group gatherings, and they always REQUIRE her to make this one particular recipe. As for me, I like the spectacular pictures and perfect decorations, Rose's clever insights, and her funny side-stories. This book is inspriational to new cooks and, as the name says, a Bible to the experienced.

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Summary: The Best Baking Book Ever!!!!
Review: I have been debating on getting this book for a long time, finally I decided to go for it. This book is wonderful, that's all I can say. It not only has tons of recipes for delectable cakes, it also has decorating tips, and the how-to's for making cakes look beautiful and taste even better. I especially love how Rose explains what each ingretiant is for. This is a must have for any baker, amatuer or professional. I don't know how I would be able to live with out it.

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Summary: Bravo! The best!
Review: I simply adore this book. I could not, for the life of me, bake a cake from scratch until I bought this book. Now I make, what are to me, flawless cakes every time. I find the layout and the directions fabulous. Just follow them exactly and you will have perfect results.

Reagrding those who have complained in the reviews about not being able to make substitutions successfully, I can't imagine substituting in a cake recipe. The basics of cake baking are more like a science than an art. You can't fiddle with the ingredients or the pan size or the temperature, etc., or the cake will fail, for sure. But you can get creative when you're decorating. That's what I love about this book: Rose Levy Beranbaum treats the cake baking itself like the science it is, and then takes the decorating possibilities to great artistic heights, beyond that. But she also lets you know that a simple dusting of powdered sugar is a fine adornment for many of the cakes. So the decorating part can be elaborate, or next to nothing, and the results are fantastic either way.

The other fabulous thing about this book is that the author has an engaging, conversational style in the introductions to many recipes. I just love the stories that she relates about her life as a baker, an aunt, a student, etc. She comes across as warm and smart, and I just love that about all of her books.

Of my 200+ cookbooks this is my favorite on baking and among my top three faves of all. To me, this is completely a must-have book.

Rating:
Summary: A Challenge
Review: While it's difficult to add much to the other reviews of "The Cake Bible", I do have a couple of thoughts that might help resolve some of the conflicting reports. Like a few of the other reviewers, I have found this to be a frustrating book, even for someone with culinary training. Let me make one thing clear -- I really want to like it. The book is comprehensive and authoritative, and the author, Rose Levy Beranbaum, tries very hard to communicate. What isn't covered in the text is usually addressed in the extensive margin notes or footnotes. With strengths like that, it would seem impossible for any recipe to fail.

But, many recipes do fail, sometimes spectacularly. How is that possible? The reasons are many and varied. First, my sense is that the recipes themselves are fragile. While ingredient measures are expressed in precise units (you'd better own a scale), the instructions must be executed to the letter. No step can be compromised; no corner can be cut. Exact pan sizes and oven temperatures must be used. The ingredients are carefully balanced. If you're off by just a little, the cake will fail. Hence, I don't approach the recipes in this book with the sort of unhesitating confidence I would like. It often takes several tries to get a cake right.

Second, the recipes don't take kindly to substitutions. Once, I came up a little short on sour cream and tried to substitute some plain yogurt in the Sour Cream Coffee Cake. The recipe wasn't robust enough to accommodate the additional water provided by the yogurt, and the cake fell. To make these cakes, you need to triple-check the ingredients list before you start.

Third, only the highest quality ingredients can be used. The Mousseline Buttercream is a good example. Since it uses only egg whites instead of yolks or whole eggs, and since there isn't much sugar, the only flavor notes come from the butter. Anything less that the highest quality will result in a final product that is greasy and horrible. And the additional liquor flavoring in many recipes is not optional. It is often required to compensate for the relative lack sugar.

Finally, the author's encouragement notwithstanding, the Showcase Cakes are legitimately complicated. Each of them has a number of components, some with multiple sub-components, and each cake takes several days to construct. The Blueberry Swan Lake, for example, calls for 2 meringue swans with piped whipped cream feathers. The White Lilac Nostalgia cake requires dozens of crystallized lilac blossoms, each prepared carefully by hand. And I'd love to see anyone's first crack at the red chocolate roses and 20 chocolate rose leaves required for the Bittersweet Royale Torte.

In fairness, however, it should be noted that some of the fundamental recipes are real breakthroughs (or at least they were when the book was written in 1988). The Moist Chocolate Genoise, for example, uses bar chocolate instead of the cocoa. The cocoa butter in the chocolate replaces the clarified butter that would normally be added to a cake of this type. The result is a chocolate genoise unlike any other I've ever tasted. While many are stiff and dry, this cake is tender and moist. In addition, the Neo-Classic Buttercream offers a worthwhile shortcut to the preparation of the sugar syrup.

A special bonus is the wedding cake section. These pages thoroughly describe the construction of a 'standard' wedding cake, right down to the amount of buttercream required for each layer. Recipes are offered for yellow and chocolate butter cake, yellow and chocolate genoise, and cheesecake. Every step along the way is described in detail, and the designs, while challenging, are generally more accessible that those from, say, Colette Peters or Dede Wilson.

In sum, while it's easy to make a decent cake, it's a big step to the next level. What this book underscores is the amount of preparation, concentration, and effort it takes to make an exceptional cake. If that is your goal, then this book could well offer the road map you're looking for.

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Summary: Old School Baking
Review: In the 10 years that I have owned this book, it has become a standard reference tool on the bookshelf of my small catering company. I find it interesting that the negative reviews offered here (of which there are few), concentrate on criticizing what I personally consider to be the book's strengths. The finished products, when following the recipes precisely, are, in my estimation, prime examples of classic American baking. They are cakes that you likely would have found cooling on the window sill of your grandmother's (or grandfather's, for that matter) old kitchen. I found that the book's "pointers for success" were the key element that helped up the ante from a merely great cake, to one of artistic and culinary perfection; specifically, the use of superfine sugar (or regular fine cane sugar processed for a few minutes in a common food processor) towards creating a texture of unequaled lightness and heft. These recipes work, and until someone comes up with a better text that, like this one, answers every cake baking question you were afraid to ask...it will continue to be the standard by which all cake baking reference tools will continue to be measured.

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Summary: If this is the Bible I have found religion
Review: This is a great cookbook. One of the all-time greats.

If you never make an item out of this book it is money well spent. The information is great. The lessons learned will improve all your subsequent baking efforts. The format Ms. Beranbaum uses should be the industry standard. THE RECIPES WORK.

I have read many of the other reviews and in the negative reviews the criticisms can be categorized among the following: "Did not like the taste, the recipes don't work, the information is incorrect, the book is too difficult to use--too dense, There are only a few recipes in this book I would use--the recipes are too intricate."

I would categorically disagree with all these complaints.

I can only respond to the criticisms by stating that I have owned a copy since this book was published. I have never had a "kitchen disaster" and yes I made something someone specifically had problems with--it was evident from their comments that they did not follow the recipe closely enough.

I have never had complaints only compliments from my tasters. By the way the same thing goes for Ms. Beranbaum''s Pie and Pastry Book-as well as the Christmas Cookie book.

There is no accounting for taste and baking is subjective. Some find the book too buttery another too sugary. This has not been my experience.

As for the criticism that you will only use several of the recipes--I do not know of any cookbook that anyone has actually made every recipe--I am sure you are out there. In a good cookbook it is not necessary that you make all the recipes, it merely requires that there are a sufficient number of recipes that you will make and that all the recipes in the book will work. I have made plenty out of this book and they work on all levels. I will probably never make the fruitcake but I would bet it works and if someone asked me for a fruitcake recipe I would point to this one.

To some extent, baking is a science. To be successful you should have an understanding of what is going on. This book provides that understanding. For those not willing to put in the minimal effort to learn, do not buy this book and stick to Sara Lee or your shortening/sugar laden grocery store junk. Don't fault Ms. Beranbaum for being comprehensive, fault yourselves for being lazy or thick.

Three years ago I made a wedding cake for about 220. The pressure was on. I re-read the Bible religiously in preparation. There were four tiers--all differerent. People did not know who made the cake. I heard very positive comments at the reception--"Did you try the lemon?--Take a bite of this one". The bride was called--people wanted to know where she got the cake it was the best wedding cake they had ever tasted. Some people have found out I made the cake and today I occasionally get compliments. As an amateur baker I have fired up the oven a number of times over the past fifteen years but this may have been my finest hour. Thanks Ms. Beranbaum--can I call you Rose? WARNING- taking on a project like this can temporarily seriously impact mental health.

The Cake Bible--- Hallelujah

Rating:
Summary: The Cake Bible
Review: I have tried to bake several of the cake recipes and buttercream recipes. I have 6 years experience an I found them difficult to follow...The flower construction section with pictures was great as is the reference section...Many of the recipes do not contain items you would normally have in you house. I find I rarely open this book to bake from as a result. I use it often for reference.

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Summary: A Chemist's Cookbook
Review: I wanted to love this book. Really, I did. I was willing to follow the instructions to a "T", and even take decorating lessons so I could stun my friends speechless with the wonder of my cakes. But I can't. Let me explain here that I am regarded (sorry to be immodest) as a fabulous home baker. That I'm a well-travelled European (from the Land o'Cakes--Scotland--no less), and know what good cakes should taste like. And that I was willing to invest the time, energy and money to make these cakes work. And they did. I just didn't like them. The reviewers who don't rave about this book are in the minority, but (for the most part), I think we're right. The buttercream tastes like...butter. The ganache frosting ( made with Lindt chocolate, no less) is heavy and off-putting. The cakes I have made are heavy and buttery without that wonderful buttery taste of good cakes (and I used a wonderful butter from Pennsylvania that's virtually indistiguishable from the fine Danish kind). Most recently, I tried the Chocolate Cloud roll cake, and it came out perfectly. But nobody wanted seconds. In short, it doesn't surprise me that Ms. Berenbaum is fascinated by the chemistry of baking. These are cakes made to icy physical perfection, but lacking the art that makes genuinely delicious confections. If you're into elaborately-decorated cakes that will amaze your friends, buy this book. If you're looking for cakes that dance on the tastebuds, this isn't it. One last comment, and a more positive one, is that the general advice she gives on measuring, mixing and baking is very good, and this (plus the gorgeous pictures) make the book a good buy, especially if you like to read cookbooks.

Rating:
Summary: Essential to every kitchen
Review: This book is simply amazing. I have been using it for several years, and not once has a recipe failed! From the user friendly ingredient lists (with measurments in cups, ounces and grams), to the precise mixing and baking directions, the book is very easy to use. As a bonus, there are sections describing the 'whys' and 'hows' of the recipes. I highly recommend this book!

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Summary: cake recipes, yes, but also lots of fillings, icings, sauces
Review: The title of this wonderful book is deceptive, since the recipes for frostings, fillings and sauces in it are just as fabulous as the cake recipes.