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CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch
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Product Description
For Brown, love and baking are inseparable. After all, he abandoned an unrewarding career in law to do the work—baking cakes!—that he finds truly emotionally satisfying. Every page of CakeLove communicates that satisfaction, as well as Brown’s can-do approach to the art of baking. As he asserts, baking cakes isn’t a cakewalk, but it’s not rocket science, either—and getting it right isn’t nearly as hard as you think.
Pound cakes, butter cakes, sponge cakes, cupcakes. Glazes, frostings, fillings, meringues. Brown provides all the basics on ingredients, equipment, and techniques, as well as recipes for more than 50 cakes that range from the classic (Chocolate Butter Cake) to the adventurous (“Sassy,” a pound cake made with mango puree and cayenne pepper). The informative step-by-step shots make you want to run to the kitchen and start baking, and the scrumptious color photos of completed cakes look good enough to sink your teeth into.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #18802 in Books
- Published on: 2008-05-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 224 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Brown takes the intimidation factor out of baking with easy-to-follow recipes while entertaining with his upbeat and casual writing style. The former lawyer and bakery owner, fulfills the promise to take readers on a tour of how and why I bake cakes, weaving his personal journey that led to sugar and flour as the tools of his career. Chapters include those featuring types of cake (pound, butter, foam), as well as sections on frostings and glazes, fillings, meringues and cake assembly. The fun and informal recipes, such as Sassy, and Mr. Banana Legs, consist of clear, numbered steps and are accompanied by informative headnotes. Full-color photos illustrate step-by-step techniques and showcase the cakes that are chockfull of appeal with their less-than-perfect appearance and convey the author's philosophy that baking shouldn't be an uptight endeavor; as long as a cake is homemade, it deserves respect. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Warren Brown has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, and a J.D. and master’s degree from The George Washington University. After establishing a career in health education and law, he realized his calling was in the kitchen and starting baking. In 2002 he opened his bakery, CakeLove, and LoveCafe followed in 2003. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Reneé Comet is a noted photographer who specializes in food and still-life photography. A cook herself, Comet has a particular passion for cookbooks and has photographed more than 30, including The Artful Pie and The Joy of Cooking. She is also a regular contributor to Vegetarian Times, Food Arts, and The Washington Post.
Customer Reviews
As a DC cakeloving resident, I vouch for Warren!
I've been lucky enough to sample Warren's wares at Cakelove in DC, and I'm so thrilled that he has brought the recipes back to us, as cakeophiliacs. Five stars, Amazon - it doesn't get much better than this!
Complex, but Totally Worth it
You may be familiar with Warren Brown from reruns of his show Sugar Rush on the Food Network, or perhaps if you're lucky enough to reside in D.C. you might have had the pleasure of sampling some of his creations and original recipes at one of his highly regarded CakeLove bakeries. For those of us living outside of personal shopping distance you're in luck as Warren has recently released a gorgeous cookbook dedicated to the art of making some of his most popular CakeLove recipes.
I don't use the term "art" loosely. These cake are involved masterpieces. Don't be lulled into complacency by the brightly colored layout and upbeat color schemes. The pages of this book may be designed to imply simplicity and ease but in reality this cookbook is more boot camp than day camp. These recipes mean business and attention to detail is key.
Fortunately, Brown gives you all of the tools to succeed including very detailed recipe instructions, step-by-step images when appropriate, and helpful tips and tricks. But in the end it's all up to you. Thanks to jaw dropping photography and tantalizing recipe options like Stout Pound Cake with Roasted Pecans, Tres Leches Butter Cake, and Hazelnut Spice Sponge Cake your body will no doubt go into pure craving mode, and the ambition to taste one of these fanciful creations will give you all the motivation you'll need to power through the recipe.
After examining the cookbook I decided to attempt the decidedly Summer appropriate Mojito Pound Cake. To answer your burning question, yes, it really does taste like a Mojito! Actually it tastes like a great Mojito, not one of those ghastly drinks you get from a hurried bartender because they think you're a jerk for ordering one in the middle of a rush, but a carefully made, simple syrup, and mint muddled Mojito that makes you sit back and say, "Ahhhhh..."
In all seriousness though, I can't believe I made this cake and I definitely couldn't have done it without this amazingly thorough text. There's nothing semi-homemade about these recipes. They're all butter, flour, cream, and eggs through and through. Sure they take a little more time and effort but the quality and taste of a cake made from scratch isn't even in the same league as your basic boxed Betty Crocker.
Love these cakes
I've made three recipes so far from this book and plan to make them all. They are unique, wonderful, and my family devours them. Next best thing to living close to one of Warren Brown's bakeries!
