Rating: 
Summary: I love you all!
Review: What a joy it has been to read all of your comments about my book. I have printed them out and plan to reread them on a regular basis or whenever I am feeling "down in the dumps!" There is nothing better than to know that one's work is valued by others and that one has reached out and touched other people's lives in a positive way. I loved the recounting of specific experiences, the humor and passion and sharing the enlightenment and joy. People who bake are happy sharing people. It simply cannot be otherwise. I am now fully engrossed in a comprehensive bread book. And I have to admit that I've never been happier than when baking bread. I'm having too much fun to rush it so please be patient. But knowing that I have an audience out there like you is spurring me on!
Rating:
Summary: Worth every penny
Review: Let's face it. I like cookbooks. I don't buy many cookbooks anymore unless I run into one that is fantastic. This book explains the WHYs of cake and frosting chemistry while allowing the reader to turn out fantastic product. There aren't many cookbooks that I will curl up with on the sofa to read, however the Cake Bible has found itself being read on the sofa. The photography is good and the recipes are clearly written. I like the fact that she includes "normal" sized cakes that most home bakers would make and then goes on to the showy wedding cakes. Frankly the book was well thought out and executed. My only gripe is that in the recipe sections, the editors did not reference the page that the picture is on (all of the pictures are in the front of the book). I made a wedding cake for my brother and sister-in-laws wedding based on recipes from the book. The white cake in the wedding cake section is fantastic. Even better is the Cream Cheese White Chocolate Buttercream--so marvelous that I wax poetically thinking about it. I made all of the rolled fondant from scatch using her recipe (better tasting than the packaged product and much more cost effective). And the crowning achievement were the marzipan roses--I even amazed myself with those (although it did take me two or three roses to get the hang of it). I highly recommend this book (like you couldn't tell already). It ranks right up there with David Page Coffin's book SHIRTMAKING and Elizabeth Zimmerman's KNITTER'S ALMANAC (both are curl up with them on the sofa books).
Rating:
Summary: Great even for Beginners!
Review: I am not an experienced baker, and really, the most I do is bake boxed brownies and choc. chip cookies. I bought the book because a friend of mine baked a cake I loved and it was a recipe from this particular book. The book is big, extensive and very detailed. There is a whole section dedicated to ingredients. She very well explains what each ingredient is and the reason for adding that ingredient to a particular recipe. There is also a section about the kinds of utensils you should have: cake molds, mixers, spatulas, etc. The recipes themselves are very detailed and easy to follow, but the only part I still get confused is the table she includes at the beginning of the recipes where she measures even the eggs (in grams, etc.) This is not usual for me since I am used to grab a large egg if the recipe calls for an egg, I don't weigh the egg at all. But overall, this book is great and the more you learn about cooking and baking, the more useful it will become.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: I'm not an experienced baker and although I don't mind baking, I will admit that I like eating cake more than I do baking it. However the recipes from The Cake Bible have brought me so many rave reviews that I look forward to making them. For a special occasion several years ago I made a three-tiered Golden Genoise with a raspberry buttercream and marzipan roses, and there are people who still marvel about it. I've also made the Black Forest cake, the Triple Chocolate cake, and the Cordon Rose Cream cheesecake with great success. The coffeecake and the blueberry buttermilk pancakes are now family classics, and for my own birthday I always make the Perfect All-American Chocolate Butter cake with a Milk Chocolate buttercream. These are real cakes, similar to great ones I've had in Vienna, London, and New York, that rely on the flavor of the ingredients rather than the overwhelming sweetness prevalent in the typical American cakes. Most of them do use a lot of butter and eggs, and there's no margarine, powdered icing sugar, or artificial flavourings in these, so be forewarned. I find them no more difficult than recipes from any other book, but the end result is light-years ahead. The fancier versions of the decorated cakes can be intimidating since my manual dexterity is somewhere below that of a dyslexic orangutan's, but even if my decorations aren't picture perfect they have a kind of funky charm, and still taste good. In any case, unless it's for a special event, it's not necessary to make them fancy. The recipes have been constructed from scratch so that the ingredients and techniques make perfect sense chemically, rather than having been recopied from existing ones. It's difficult to look at other cake recipes now.
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Summary: It IS for the faint of heart
Review: Three years ago, I could burn water. Today, my co-workers line up and wait on Monday to see what I've come up with over the weekend. If I can follow these recipes, anyone can. Have there been disasters? Sure (even some of the disasters have been hits). All of them have been because I missed something about how the recipe was supposed to be made, made a silly error (not pre-heating the oven once is particularly memorable), or cut corners preparing the ingredients ("oh, that's close enough to room temperature..."; wrong!). This isn't an add-water-mix-and-bake book, it's about how cakes made from scratch work. There are a few really easy, really delicious recipes that I can knock out now in a half an hour with the extra egg whites left from a larger project (okay, that's because I do have a good stand mixer), and I've successfully made three "major production" cakes in the last few months, including a three tier cake (caution, steep learning curve ahead, but I did it). Pay attention, follow the directions, practice and adjust to your taste if the recipe doesn't suit you. But be careful, this can be habit forming.
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Summary: Want to make a wedding cake? Get this book!
Review: This book is absolutely wonderful for many reasons, most already stated by other reviewers. I have made many recipes out of it and all were beautiful and delicious. One of the very best things about this book is the section on baking large cakes, such as tiered wedding cakes. The recipes are designed to yield the correct number of layers - for example a recipe for a 3-tiered cake will yield enough batter for all three tiers, so you can mix it up all at once! This eliminates the need to do any math! No more extending and converting recipes, worrying about the amount of baking powder to use, etc! Plus, Rose puts in many helpful hints about assembling, frosting and decorating tiered cakes. With the detailed guidance in this book I managed to make my own wedding cake - three tiers, fondant, icing and all!
Rating: 
Summary: Proceed with caution.
Review: I received this book as a gift and was so excited - because I'm what Beranbaum calls a 'passionate amateur.' As I read through different recipes, I was sure they would all be excellent because of the painstaking way she describes how to bake them. The section on showcase cakes is especially good; it's so impressive when you see what's possible through the illustrations. I made the Christmas Log and it looked perfect because she gives such thorough instructions. BUT... As many of these reviews have said, quite a few of the recipes seem to be too "gourmet" for most people - including myself. Many seem to be acquired tastes - even that Christmas Log I was so proud of tasted rather bitter to me and most of my guests. I do think, however, if you're confident in your baking skills, you can mix and match different recipes or substitute some ingredients for others in order to get the same aesthetic effect, but with a more "generally appealing" taste. The book has great instructions for decorating and is really easy (though time-consuming) to follow. Also, I've heard famous things about THE CHEESECAKE and look forward to trying that. On the whole, it really just depends on what you like. I have made these cakes for different events and while they look great, they just don't always deliver.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book--BUT.....
Review: ... it isn't for everyone. The recipes are excellent and she's tested every variable known to (wo)man (down to different brands of chocolate). However, if you're just a casual home baker who doesn't appreciate or isn't interested in this kind of perfectionism, you'll hate the book and Ms Berenbaum's approach. This is a book for the serious baker. It's for this reason that I'm leaving off a star. For me, it's perfect. However, the title might lead people to think it's suitable for anyone, and it isn't. While you don't have to be a professional, you do need a basic understanding of baking techniques and a desire to make perfect cakes.
Rating:
Summary: Don't be intimidated.
Review: I bake every week and I've had this book on my shelf for years. Somehow I was intimidated by her way of mixing a cake. I thought it would be difficult. One day I decided to take the plunge --boy was I wrong! The procedure she describes is, in fact, easier than the standard methods and the results were great. Among others, I've made the streusel coffee cake, the orange chiffon cake and the lemon poppy seed pound cake. The directions are clear and intelligently written. I also love her stories. The one about her brother's wedding made me laugh out loud. Try it.
Rating:
Summary: A delicious source of recipes and baking know-how
Review: Rose Levy Beranbaum has done an enviable job of creating a cookbook that offers the experienced baker dozens of wonderful ideas, tips and tricks, while offering clear, well-written instructions that allow even a novice baker to produce some really spectacular cakes. I received my copy several years ago as a gift. The pages are stained with vanilla and butter slicks, a sure sign a cookbook is a good source of recipes as well as a good read. If you love to bake, do yourself a favor: buy this book and make the triple chocolate cake. It's easy (well, easier than it looks), delicious and a showstopper.
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