The Cake Book

by Tish Boyle, John Uher (Photographer)

"There's something magical about the process of makinga cake from scratch, a process that transforms a few simple ingredients--butter, sugar, flour, and eggs--into culinary artistry."
--Tish Boyle

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Reference, Nonfiction

376 pages, Hardcover

First published April 13, 2006

About the author

TISH BOYLE is co-editor of Dessert Professional magazine and an experienced food writer, cookbook author, pastry chef, and recipe developer. Her previous books include Chocolate Passion, Diner Desserts, The Good Cookie, and The Cake Book.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have started a bakery and this book has been invaluable! The recipes are fantastic as they are, but I have also been able to use it as jumping off point for most of my own creations. Love, love, love it. Thank you Tish Boyle!

[Amelia]

Thinking about opening a cupcake business, and the recipes/tips in this book are PHENOMENAL!

[Robert Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good cake recipe book.

THE PROS:

My favorite recipe is the CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE. What a great excuse to buy some Guinness and bake a cake.

The recipes are all formatted well and explained thoroughly, and each is given a difficulty rating on a scale of "one cake slice" = Simple to "four cake slices" = Very Advanced.

Every recipe seems wonderful. I say "seems" because there are few photos to judge them by. A few other favorites are:

-YOGURT MOUSSE CAKE WITH HONEYED RASPBERRIES AND MINT SYRUP

-LEMON LUST CAKE

-BROOKLYN BLACKOUT CAKE 2003

THE CONS:

Only 32 color photos and they are only average in quality. I know it's a lot to expect that every recipe have a picture, but you really don't want to have to use your imagination about what a cake is supposed to look like when contemplating a recipe. Pictures really do make the difference between a good 3 or 4 star book and an exceptional 5 star book.

[Gita Arimanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually borrow cake books that have more words than pictures. But this book is great for beginners like me. It explains the different kinds of cakes and basic techniques of making them. I used to only know cakes based on colors (chocolate cake? yellow cake?) and was so confused by the abundance of recipes out there e.g. Why does this one say to whip the eggs separately and that one just chuck in everything? Why does this one use butter and that one use oil? etc. Boyle's explanation is easy to follow and she includes a lot of tips in making sure baking each type of cakes is a success. Now that I start baking again, it's useful to know these basic and hopefully I can be a good baker.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift and LOVE it. So many recipes for cake and frosting my tongue is wagging. If you are a baker like I am, get this in your kitchen!

[Nickki · Rating 3 out of 5]

picked up a publishers copy at a book sale... so the photos aren't in color, but so far it's interesting.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One word... YUM!

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love her cookie book, and will probably ise that one more, but this looks really good

[Jewel]

the New York Cheesecake recipe has been my families all-time favorite, it turnes out perfectly everytime.

[Sade' · Rating 4 out of 5]

No complaints!

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this recipe for chocolate buttercream frosting.