All Cakes Considered

by Melissa Gray

Melissa Gray is National Public Radio's Cake Lady. Every Monday she brings a cake to the office for her colleagues at NPR to enjoy. Hundreds of Mondays (and cakes) later, Melissa has lots of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811867811
• ISBN13: 9780811867818
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 2.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 9.0" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

If you like cake, you HAVE to get this book!

I got this book more as something for my wife than anything, but I ended up reading it because I was curious as to how someone would create a cookbook for making only one thing. I don't really bake cakes, except maybe once a year for someone's birthday. My last couple have received a few less than stellar reviews, so I was almost ready to go back to the boxed mixes. I quickly discovered that this isn't just a book about cake, it is a book about baking in general and has an entertaining frame story regarding the author's task to bring a cake into her office every week for three months. That became six months, then a year. The recipes, scattered tips and anecdotes are entertaining, humorous, and helpful. The first recipe (The "Man Catcher") is presented in a way that anyone can make it. The approach taken is somewhat pedantic at the outset, but there is a lot of good information there -- and we can all stand to hone our skills once in awhile. If you don't know what 'prepare a pan' means, or don't even know what kind of pan to use, this recipe is great for you. It covers the various kinds of pans used for baking cakes and explains how to prepare a pan so the cake will not stick. If 'cream butter and sugar' holds no meaning for you, this book explains how and why you should do this. In addition to the many cake recipes in this book are several variations and tips for creating your own. The recipes are ordered within the book from easiest to more difficult in order to give the author a chance to introduce new terminology, equipment and methodology -- you don't need a fancy horizontal cake cutter until you want to tackle more advanced layer cakes. The index is excellent and allows location of recipes by main ingredient: craving cake with bananas in it? There are two. Coconut? There are *seven*. Figs? Yes, there is one. How about the recipes themselves? They are explained in plain language that is clear and concise. As far as the taste of the cakes, I've tried a few and they have all been excellent. Mind you, I'm not going to make a cake a week, but I know that I have a good reference whether I want to make something simple (Chocolate Pound Cake or ATF Gingerbread) or go a bit fancier (Sour Cream Spice Cake with Orange Butter Frosting or Lady and Lord Baltimore Cakes with Divinity Frosting).

Suzie Housley, Midwest Book Review

Melissa Gray has proven she is the Queen of cake making. In her book All Cakes Considered she has collected fifty recipes that have been taste tested by her coworkers and are easy to understand; each one produce award winning results. Being baking challenged; I was delighted to have discovered this book. It is filled with recipes that are absolutely delicious. Some of my favorites included: Triple Chocolate Orange Passion Cake Black Walnut Cake Spanish Meringue Cake Tunnel of Fudge Cake With the in-depth introduction on caking baking and what was needed to master each recipe it allowed me to learn the basics I needed to produce the textbook perfect results. All Cakes Considered would make a wonderful addition to any baker's cookbook collection. It would be the ideal gift for a newlywed or someone who is a novice to baking. This book is assured to become one of your most treasured cookbooks.

You have to like a book that slips in "Hey, lady nice rack" as a chapter title

Radio producer Melissa Gray, is known as the National Public Radio Cake Lady. Every Monday she brings a cake to the office for her coworkers at NPR to enjoy. After many a cake she is an unofficial expert on people pleasing cakes. Now she has gathered all those recopies and stories and hints into a delightful book All Cakes Considered. A combination of recipes, personal memories, family stories and a plethora of cake making helps.....it wasn't until I read this book that I finally understood how to use parchment and wax paper when baking and what that weird shaped cake pan was actually good for...(not just a place storing loose nails and screws). There is a mix of famous names and cakes (Red Velvet Cake, Tunnel of Fudge Cake, Martha Washington's Great Cake and many more). There are plain cakes, fancy cakes and flavor combinations I hadn't even considered. Every cake is accompanied by a story. The recipes are easy to follow, very impressive and include hints for making a pretty cake and traveling safely with delicious baked goods. Gray also includes some recopies for various types of cookies and pies. My favorites? Chocolate Pound Cake, Dark Chocolate peppermint Pattie Cake and the Naughty Senator. Come one and all...there's something for the Chocolate cake Caucus, the People's Pound Cake Coalition, the Spice and Vice Alliance and anyone you want to surprise with a cake.

Beautifully done cookbook dedicated to cakes

I must start by saying that I too bake for my coworkers a couple of times a month, just for the fun of it. I've always enjoyed the reaction I get from others when they taste something delicious that I've created. With that being said, I must tell you that I love this woman for that reason, because I see similarities in her and I. So, that's enough about the author. This book is beautiful and has some delicious recipes in it, all with gorgeous illustrations. It actually starts with a little bit about the author and how she took on "The Cake Project," a challenge to bake a different cake every Monday for her co-workers, with no boxed mixes, or anything pre-made for that matter. Pass or fail, she still shared them with her co-workers and learned everything she knows about baking the old fashioned way, through trial and error. The great thing about this book is that it is made for a beginner, but would be great for an experienced baker as well. It starts out with easier recipes and tips on how to bake them, and goes on to more difficult recipes and tips on how to bake those as well. She tells everything she knows about successfully making these cakes.The author tells you all the supplies you will need from the basic baking supplies on to the ingredients you will need. These recipes look so delicious and I love that they are tried and true. Those are always the best kind. I recommend this book for beginners or experienced bakers. It is written and illustrated so well.

Beautiful enough for the coffee table but practical enough for the kitchen

All Cakes Considered is all you need to progress from a beginning baker to an impressive one. Gray starts with a simple recipe for Sour Cream Pound Cake (a cake she calls "The Man Catcher"). She deconstructs the recipe and explains each step in great detail, down to how to properly center a cake in the oven and how to prepare the pan so your cake won't stick. The recipes then progress in order of increasing complexity, finishing with a cake Gray dubs "The Liberace of Layer Cakes." With seven layers and a chocolate ganache frosting, the cake certainly deserves a spot on the stage. Along the way, Gray introduces each new technique with simple instructions that are easy to follow, so it's easy to pick up difficult techniques. I'm a fairly experienced baker, but instead of jumping to the more difficult recipes, I decided to follow Gray's advice and to bake the cakes in order of difficulty. I started with the Man Catcher and diligently followed all of Gray's instructions, some of which were very different from my usual baking habits. The cake turned out better than any pound cake I've ever made in the past, so I'm impressed. I'm looking forward to working my way through this entire book. Interesting anecdotes are interspersed with the recipes. You can skip them if you're only wanting to bake the cakes, but I liked reading about the origins of the Gray's recipes and the other interesting tidbits. Gray's witty, plain-spoken style is confidence-inspiring and fun to read. On top of great recipes and fun-to-read instructions, this cookbook is well designed. The attractive color scheme and the large pictures are inviting. The thick pages rest easily in the open position and stay open on the counter as you're cooking. All in all, this is one of those perfect cookbooks that's beautiful enough for the coffee table but practical enough for the kitchen.