The Cake Bible

by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Book Overview

An IACP Culinary Classics Hall of Fame book - Winner of the James Beard award

If you ever bake a cake, this book will become your partner in the kitchen. --Maida Heatter

This is the classic cake cookbook that enables anyone to make delicious, exquisite cakes. As a writer for food magazines, women's magazines, and newspapers, including The New York Times, Rose Levy Beranbaum's trademark is her ability...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688044026
• ISBN13: 9780688044022
• Release Date: September 1988
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 592 Pages
• Weight: 2.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 7.5" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

I had such high hopes for this cookbook.

I have to wonder how many people actually tried making a cake from this book before leaving a review. I have tried two, one of them twice in case I missed something and to give it another chance. I followed the directions exactly and all of the cakes I made from these recipes were dense and unspectacular. I would not recommend this one.

Doesn't cut corners

This book contains extra steps pertaining to the structure of a cake and the like, which are missing from my modern books. Having a kitchen scale will be handy with this book.

A Must Have!

I love baking and recipe books! Can't wait to read this Cake Bible... another one for my collection!

A well-rounded, well-researched, wonderful classic

Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Cake Bible" has justifiably become a classic in the many years since its original publication in 1988. Aside from bearing the seal of approval of the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals, which awarded the book its "Cookbook of the Year" prize in 1988), take a look at the fact that this book is still not only in print--it's in print in hardcover! That says a great deal about the value and information the book provides.I can attest personally to the fact that the recipes WORK. This is the number one test for any cookbook, yet it's astonishing to me how many recipes DON'T work--either because of unclear or poorly worded directions, or because of lack of thorough testing on the part of the author. I have never yet made anything from this book with which I was disappointed, and have made a number of recipes which have entered the hallowed pantheon of family favorites. Beranbaum's White Velvet Butter Cake has become a de rigeur choice for birthday, confirmation, and other special occasion cakes--it's a fine-crumbed, velvety, melt-in-your-mouth cake that's like the best wedding cake or petit four you've ever put in your mouth. And the Neoclassic Buttercream gives you a meltingly delicious frosting that's the color of cheesecake--richly ivory and silken smooth.Beranbaum is a companionable writer--her essay on "My Brother's Wedding Cake, or the Snowstorm of 1983" has become something of a Murphy's Law baking classic--and she's a learned and intelligent teacher. This book was the first to introduce me to the novel idea of weighing ingredients, rather than measuring them by volume. The result is much greater accuracy, which in turn gives you a much higher chance of turning out stellar baking results. I bought a scale shortly after receiving this book as a gift for my birthday in 1989, and have never looked back. In fact, when I wrote my own culinary newsletter from 1993 to 2000, I usually did all the recipes giving both weights AND measures, trying to encourage my readers to try the weighing method. Once you try it, you'll never go back.The photography is gorgeous (although I have always wished there were more of it!). The cakes fairly gleam with rich color--you can practically taste them just looking at the photographs (check out especially the handsome Strawberry Maria, named for editor Maria Guarnaschelli, and the dramatically decorated Art Deco cake).In addition to the cake and icing recipes, there is worthy advice on everything from tempering chocolate to creating three-dimensional cake decorations to unusual sources for cake and cake-decorating supplies. The bottom line is that any home cook can create gorgeous, sumptuous, outstandingly delicious cakes from Beranbaum's book--and isn't that what a cake bible should be all about?

Worth every penny

Let's face it. I like cookbooks. I don't buy many cookbooks anymore unless I run into one that is fantastic. This book explains the WHYs of cake and frosting chemistry while allowing the reader to turn out fantastic product. There aren't many cookbooks that I will curl up with on the sofa to read, however the Cake Bible has found itself being read on the sofa. The photography is good and the recipes are clearly written. I like the fact that she includes "normal" sized cakes that most home bakers would make and then goes on to the showy wedding cakes.Frankly the book was well thought out and executed. My only gripe is that in the recipe sections, the editors did not reference the page that the picture is on (all of the pictures are in the front of the book).I made a wedding cake for my brother and sister-in-laws wedding based on recipes from the book. The white cake in the wedding cake section is fantastic. Even better is the Cream Cheese White Chocolate Buttercream--so marvelous that I wax poetically thinking about it. I made all of the rolled fondant from scatch using her recipe (better tasting than the packaged product and much more cost effective). And the crowning achievement were the marzipan roses--I even amazed myself with those (although it did take me two or three roses to get the hang of it).I highly recommend this book (like you couldn't tell already). It ranks right up there with David Page Coffin's book SHIRTMAKING and Elizabeth Zimmerman's KNITTER'S ALMANAC (both are curl up with them on the sofa books).

Throw your other cake cookbooks away

This book was recommended by the instructor of a cake baking class I took at a local culinary academy. If the instructor, a professional baker for more than 35 years, could learn from this book, I figured I could too. And I have learned from the exacting directions, thorough explanations, and personal anecdotes provided with each recipe. She provides instructions to make basic cakes in any size from 6" layers to 18" layers by multiplying a base recipe to produce any size cake you need. I've never seen this in any other cookbook, and is by itself worth the price of the book. I have had perfect results from the butter cake recipes (even chocolate cakes which I had never had much success with before), and the method of mixing is so much easier than the standard way that most cookbooks describe. Weights are provided for all recipes, adding convenience and much easier clean-up. Since I bought this book, I haven't even looked at any of the other cake books I have. There just isn't any need for them.