Perfect Cakes

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Recipes
Review: As for recipes, the ones I have tried turned out absolutely fantastic! I made the 'Orange Sponge Cake' last week and it was extremely light and fluffy, and the flavor was outstanding. I made the 'Lemon Meringue Cake' today and my co-workers are raving about it. I'm going to make it for an upcoming bridal shower - it turned out beautfully.
However, I have to agree with the first reviewer 'oktober31' on the lack of some details in the instructions. I had to rely on my past experiences for things like 'how much to whip the meringue?', and 'should the eggs be at room temp or cold?', etc.
These seem like small details, but when it comes to baking, we all know how important these small details become!
But if you're a somewhat experienced baker, I highly recommend the book as the recipes are out of this world! - thanks

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Recipes
Review: As for recipes, the ones I have tried turned out absolutely fantastic! I made the 'Orange Sponge Cake' last week and it was extremely light and fluffy, and the flavor was outstanding. I made the 'Lemon Meringue Cake' today and my co-workers are raving about it. I'm going to make it for an upcoming bridal shower - it turned out beautfully.
However, I have to agree with the first reviewer 'oktober31' on the lack of some details in the instructions. I had to rely on my past experiences for things like 'how much to whip the meringue?', and 'should the eggs be at room temp or cold?', etc.
These seem like small details, but when it comes to baking, we all know how important these small details become!
But if you're a somewhat experienced baker, I highly recommend the book as the recipes are out of this world! - thanks

Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Cookbook
Review: If Maida Heatter is the queen of cakes, as Mr. Malgieri calls her in his dedication of this beautiful cook to her, then he must be king. This is the third dessert cookbook of this author I own, and-- forgive the pun-- he just gets batter and batter.

Mr. Malgieri tells you practically everything you ever needed to know about baking a cake. There is information on ingredients, equipment, sources, a bibliography, all kinds of different cake recipes, as well as information on frosting and decorating. (For example, now I know that one cup minus two tablespoons of all-purpose flour equals one cup cake flour.) I marvel that at this late date there are still new cake recipes to be had. This book is full of them. And in keeping with my theory that each book should have at least one dynamite recipe, the green tea pound on page 42 makes the cut. I'm pleased to say that a slice tastes great straight from the oven with a glass of cold milk. In addition to this great recipe, there are certainly many others I want to try.

If you are on a diet or do not bake, however, just looking at these great photographs makes the book worth having. Printed on slick acid-free paper with great color photographs, this book is too pretty to get cake flour on. It is worthy of a coffee table.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Welcome Treat for Bakers
Review: Mr. Malgeiri has done it again! This very well-written baking book illustrates quite clearly each and every recipe by the notes and reminders of the author. I have done the Perfect Chocolate Cake twice already, including one of the ganache frostings and they came out really perfect each time. This book will be appreciated by home bakers like me, because the instructions are very clear and precise. It is surely a welcome addition to one's collection of excellent cookbooks.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty pictures, but not well explained
Review: While I'm not a beginning baker, I am relatively new to world of cake baking. I borrowed this book because of the cover picture honestly, and was immediately intrigued by all the recipes in this book.

So here's what's good about this book
-the layout of the book, with the pictures
-the variety of cakes is great. many are unusual and i've not seen them in other cake books (i work at a book store, i would know!)
-the introduction chapter which talks about the importance of various ingredients, baking skills, utensils, etc.

What's not so hot about this book
-the lack of detailed instructions at times
-the lack of descriptions of the mixtures you are making.

I had trouble with a few recipes... Other recipes have the "as you go" descriptions I find very useful. An experienced cake baker may know what to look for, but I do not! I made the cover cake tonight (strawberry meringue layer cake) and the author's recipe for meringue fell flat for me. I had to resort to a Pillsbury recipe for a lemon meringue pie I had previously made. However, the cake and strawberry filling was easy to follow and tasted great.
If you are an experienced cake baker, then I would suggest buying this book. You will probably be able to figure out alot that I can't at this point! I do intend to make more from this book, but maybe after making cakes from other books.
If you are not so experienced, as I am, hunt around for other dessert cookbooks. Le Cordon Bleu makes an excellent dessert book for amateur and experienced cooks alike!