| | Great Cakes |  | Author: Carole Walter
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy Used: $4.36
You Save: $20.64 (83%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 311188
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 8 x 2
ISBN: 0345337514
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.8653
EAN: 9780345337511
ASIN: 0345337514
Publication Date: October 8, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: We ship books out daily M-F. We process orders by the next business day to ensure the fastest delivery possible. We list the majority of our books in "Good" condition. If this book had any major flaws, it would be listed in "Acceptable" condition. Easy returns if you are unhappy with book. PLEASE NOTE: We ship immediately, however the Post Office controls delivery speed. In a hurry? Please choose EXPEDITED SHIPPING. Proceeds benefit non-profit Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties.
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 16 | | NEXT » |
Great cakes August 6, 2007
This book was recommended by a friend. It has great recipes and helpful information. Love it.
Learn How to Bake a Cake October 18, 2004
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
There are an awful lot baking cook books available these days, but few are worth anything. This book is one of the few truly helpful books that actually shows you how to properly bake a cake. Many baking books feature a famous chef on the cover, along with casual recipe instructions and the admonition that this really is easy to do; usually, this is a lie. This book fills in all the details, and is really the only cake cook book you will need.
Please note that this is not a "throw it together and bake" kind of cookbook; for these, I suggest books like The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, or Pillsbury's Best of the Bake-Off. The chapters are arranged like a textbook. The author expects you to systematically bake your way through each chapter in order, gaining skill and experience with each chapter. You are not suppose to skip around at random, picking out a few appealing recipes. The first chapter has pound cakes, the easiest; last chapter has European tortes and gateaux, the most difficult.
It has chapters on ingredients, equipment, techniques, pound cakes, butter cakes, coffee / streusel cakes, cakes with fruit, sponge cakes, roulades, chiffon, angel food, american, cheesecakes, tortes and gateaux, filling, frosting, glazes, sauces and toppings, and decorations.
The quality of the cakes are very high. When I need a high caliber Sacher Torte in a professional setting, the recipe comes from this book. It has a rare and complete recipe for Genoise. It is also one of the few books that insists on clarified butter for the Genoise (the only other one I can think of is Beranbaum's Cake Bible). The only real complaint I have is the suggestion to bang Genoise batter in the cake pan on the counter just before baking (never do this; better a couple of small holes in the finished cake than a deflated cake). Her recipe for chiffon cakes produces more loft than conventional procedures. I also wish the author would use the classic European names for the recipe titles; it would make looking up certain patissiere classics easier. The last section tells you how to match frostings and fillings to the cake, some valuable and hard to find recipes for glazes, and a definitive recipe for creme anglaise. There is also information on substituting different baking pans, and a sufficient amount of information about cake decorating for the home baker.
The most vexing feature of this book is the format of the first part, which has critical information on tools, pantry, and techniques. This is a most important collection of information that is essential for baking, but is usually left out of most baking books. The bad part is that these three chapters do not have a listing of the subjects; if you need to find something, say how to fold an egg foam batter, you will have to leaf through the entire chapter to find it. All other chapters have a complete listing of recipes in the Table of Contents.
One can disagree with the author on a few points: unbleached flour does not have a higher protein content than all-purpose (this is brand dependent), the silly notion of melting chocolate in a 225 degree oven, and not supplying the flour measurements in weight as well as volume (she describes sift, spoon, and sweep, which is about 3 1/2 oz when I tried it). I also dislike her idea to dump out excess flour when flouring a cake into the sink; since flour tends to clog drains, I do it over a garbage can. The section on suggested equipment is comprehensive: 30 different cake pans are listed, about a dozen categorized as essential, and 50 different tools, about half categorized as essential. The pantry chapter has a good dissertation on the important ingredients and what to do with them. The chapter on techniques gives complete instructions for all of the important baking tasks, such as how to handle butter and fats, beating eggs, folding batters, lining baking pans, bain-marie, telling when cakes are done baking (it differs greatly depending on cake type), de-panning cakes, storage, and a fascinating section on freezing. The metric conversion table for liquids in the Appendix is wrong.
An Outstanding Book August 5, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you only buy one book on cakes, make it this one. Read the author's invaluable instructions on technique, ingredients, equipment etc. before you begin baking. No matter what level of baker you are you will learn something new. One caveat: while this is not a "fussy" book, it certainly is not for "cake doctors"--be methodical and follow the recipes to a "T"--you will be thrilled with the results!
LOVE THE COCONUT CAKE RECIPE! July 5, 2004
This is a great cookbook for anyone who likes to make cakes from scratch. The coconut cake recipe is absolutely delicious! This is the only cookbook I use when I want to make a cake. Her directions are easy to follow and even a novice like me gets great results!
A TREASUR INDEED July 2, 2004
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is got to be your first step to cake education. Its more than a cook book, its a baking course between 2 covers. I recommond it in the shelf of every beginner baker.
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