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Title: CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch
ISBN: 1584796626
Author:
Warren Brown
Publicate Date: 2008-05-01
Publish: 2008-05-01
List Price: $27.50
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $16.49
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $14.95
Amazon Merchant Price: $18.15
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Love CakeLove -- fabulous flavors!
This cookbook is an interesting blend of good beginning cake baking instruction and intriguing recipes for bakers who want to add new flavor variety to their cake repertoire. Although I think it is a great cookbook, I'm not sure it is the right cookbook for every baker. The instructional material is very good, but I wouldn't recommend this as the only cake book for a novice baker unless that person would be bored with the usual flavors. This book is for the baker (beginning or otherwise) who wants something out of the ordinary because Warren Brown comes up with flavor combinations I never imagined! Those flavor combinations (and the "crunchy feet" concept) are what makes this cookbook unique.
The first thing I liked about this book is the size. It is wide enough to stay open on the counter. And you don't have to turn a page in the middle of a recipe: the recipes are on facing pages. In addition, the author sets out the recipes in a way I haven't seen before -- by category of ingredient: dry, liquid and "creaming" (butter, sugar & eggs). That is helpful because you can more easily assemble all the ingredients that are added in each step (and not miss any). He also gives the amounts in both weight and volume. I like that because I measure flour and sugar by weight, not cups. For bakers in high elevations, he gives both alternate bake times and ingredients to make the recipes work there.
There is much good material for beginning cake bakers. The book starts with a good section on ingredients and an explanation of why he uses potato starch, an ingredient not found in most cake recipes. The next section begins with detailed instructions on how to make a pound cake. The author explains each step and why it is important. He strongly suggests weighing flour rather than the scoop and level method and gives an example of how far off the scoop method can be. He includes photographs of the steps so you can see what the batter should look like in the mixing bowl at various stages.
After the pound cake tutorial, come the pound cake recipes. There are few "basic" flavors, which is why I would hesitate to have this be a beginning baker's only cake book. However, for bakers who like a little pizzazz in their cake flavors, there is nothing else like CakeLove! There are vanilla and chocolate pound cake recipes. After those basics, Warren Brown goes wild with flavor combinations. This is the reason to buy this cookbook! Where else will you find pound cake recipes with these flavors: mango-orange with cayenne pepper (Sassy), clove-anise spice, lemon ginger, citron (grapefruit) bundt, chocolate-apricot, mojito (lime-mint), peanut raisin, pumpkin-clove, triple lime-chocolate, cranberry-lemon with chocolate, and more??
There are smaller sections on butter cakes (the typical layer cake) and foam cakes (sponge & chiffon types). They each have a few basic flavors and some more interesting ones (Mr. Banana Legs, Tres Leches, hazelnut spice, cinnamon and cream). The cookbook ends with sections on frostings and fillings. He gives a basic recipe (& good instructions) for Italian Meringue Buttercream and several flavor variations and then a variety of buttercream frostings, including coconut, hazelnut crunch, pecan and peanut and the aptly named Flame (made with paprika, cayenne and ancho chili pepper)
I'm happy to have CakeLove on my cookbook shelf and if you like flavors out of the ordinary, you'll like it as well.
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2: This will become your "Go-To" cookbook!
Although the title to this book includes "how to bake cakes from scratch" this is not for just the novice baker. A huge fan of Warren Brown's recipes (he let Cuisine at Home publish his Pumpkin Poundcake and it's to die for!) and his story (featured in What Should I Do With My Life by Po Bronson), I snatched this beautiful book off the shelf as soon as I saw it and I've been enjoying huge baking success ever since. Although I already considered myself an experienced baker, I have not only learned some really good techniques from this book, but Mr. Brown's creations have replaced many of my stock recipes, as every single one is excellent.
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3: Disappointed
As an experienced baker I was disappointed after trying one cake recipe from this book. I thought the ratio of sugar to flour was very high. The cake was very wet and stuck to the plate along with the taste being fair. Also, in the book there is only one recipe that requires cake flour which offers a better result for cake textures.
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4: Not in love with Cakelove
I wanted to love this book, I really did. But I made three cakes from recipes out of this book and all were dry and tasteless. I give it 3 stars because I like how it is written, the pictures are nice and everything is explained nicely. It's just not the cake book I was seeking. So many people really love this book, I'm just not one of them.
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5: Delicious
I purchased this book a few months ago and am so happy I did. It has become my favorite read. I have made several of the cakes and each time, that cake becomes my family's favorite. Warren has written the book in such a way that makes it easy and fun. Several of the ingredients were a little difficult for me to find, but thanks to online shopping I was able to accomplish and purchase what I needed.
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