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I'm wondering what you recommend as the best books about cakes?

I have sources all over the place, but I'd love an awesome book focusing exclusively on classic cakes. Anyone's favorite(s)?

Growing up in the 60's, my Mother and Grandmother always seemed to have a cake under a glass dome on the counter, (or in the fridge. "Icebox" cakes were one of my favorites). Over the past decade(s) or so, some of the "Old-Fashioned" cakes seemed to have been pushed out of the way in favor of trendy cupcakes with flavors and frostings we never would have imagined back in 1964. However, old isn't always bad, and if you're like me, you still have a sweet tooth for a slice from one of the "Old-Fashioned" cakes you remember from your youth. My Mother often frosted her cakes with "7-minute Frosting,"-a frosting made with egg whites and literally "cooked" over a double-boiler for 7 minutes until it had a glossy sheen. Mother often frosted a "Burnt Sugar Cake" with the 7-minute Frosting. Years before caramelized sugar was the rage in pastry, we called it "burnt sugar," which when you think of it, is an appropriate definition. Sugar melted until it "burns" or turns golden. I suppose putting the term "burnt" on a cake menu wouldn't sound appetizing today so we call it "caramelized" instead. I still make Mother's Burnt Sugar Cake with 7-minute Frosting, but I add Heath Bar bits to the cake for a nostalgic crunch, and I add some burnt sugar syrup to the frosting. I gussy-up Mother's cake with a coating of toasted coconut and a dusting of Heath Bar bits. Now I'm not a Master Baker and I don't always present bakery quality cakes in terms of presentation. Mother didn't either, but trusted, prized cakes don't have to win beauty contests. They have to taste great. Do you have a favorite "Old-Fashioned Cake" you still make?

Anyone have a recipe they've already made that they could highly reccomend? I haven't made one in ages.............. I recall seeing some great reviews on RLB's orange chiffon cake (although I haven't made it myself)......I was wondering if anyone here had made it and if so-any reason why I couldn't switch out the orange and make it lemon? Thanks

I've been trying to make 6" genoise rounds, but have been having the same problem twice. At first I thought it was the recipe, so I switched from a cake flour/corn starch blend to all cake flour. But that didn't seem to be the problem. The cakes haven't been rising; the top 1/4" looks okay, but then the bottom 1/2" is completely dense and flat; it looks like it didn't rise at all. I did use the magi-cake strips both times; Rose Levy Beranbaum suggested using them in The Cake Bible. Also, I had four 6" pans on the same rack in a 350F oven. I did grease the pans, line with parchment circles and then greased and floured again. Anybody have any ideas as to what's going on here???

[Host's note: to avoid an excessive load on our servers this topic has been split. The discussion continues from here.] Many batches of Apple Pie Ice Cream later and I'm still in love...think it's the crust factor although I am embarrassed to say so. I've never had cookie dough ice cream, but I imagine it's pretty much in the same category. I'm thinking about making Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream...or pretty much any pie ice cream...well, not Lemon Meringue...fruit pies, nut pies,...???? Thanksgiving (in October here in the Far Frozen North) might be a good time to try the Pumpkin idea.

OK, so I was planning to make RLB's banana cake today, from The Cake Bible. I didn't have any 9" cake pans, so I just bought inexpensive ones from the supermarket. (I figure, lots of recipes call for 9" pans, so they'd be good to have.) I brought them home and checked the recipe, which specifies using a 9"x2" round pan. My new 9" pans are only 1.5" deep. The recipe also specifies that it can be baked in a 9" springform pan. I have an 8" and a 10" springform pan, but no 9" springform. (Oh, and the 8" springform currently has a cheesecake cooling in it. Also from The Cake Bible. I forgot to add A FULL POUND of sour cream to the recipe. Somebody shoot me and put me out of my misery...) What would you do? I find I run into this problem often, but I hoped by buying 9" cake pans I'd resolve the issue. How can I adjust recipes to work in my pans? How many pans should I be investing in to make the 2-3 cakes/year I normally end up baking? I can return the 9x1.5" pans if they're gonna be useless, but I'm dead certain there were no 9x2" cake pans at the supermarket to swap them with...and it may be a few days before I go someplace where a 9x2" pan may be sold, and meanwhile I have overripe bananas just sitting on the counter waiting to be used...

Hi, I'm very new to baking cakes and need a little help deciding what kind of pan to get. I found a store that sells (PME) anodised aluminium cak pans with removable or solid bottom and of different heights for the same diameters. I was wondering which height should I get? 1. If I get a pan with higher sides, could there be a problem while baking if my batter only fills a third or half of the pan? 2. If a recipe calls for two pans to bake cakes in, could I just use one pan with sufficient higher edges to bake one high cake and then cut it into two layers? Or will I increase the risk of cake sinking,baking this way? (I'm refering to this recipe in particular - seems a bit of a waste buying two identical pans, but am willing to if I have to) Would I have to adjust the temperature and baking time baking this way? 3. Is there any reason to opt for either the pan with removable bottom or solid one?

Hi all 👋 I made my forst genoise today (or at least attempt to). I was following this recipe. Sice I only had a 18x7 cm pan, I increased all the ingredients by factor 1,4. Ingredients: 217 g eggs 123 g sugar (regular, krustal, white) 14 g honey 84 g flour (not cake flour probably) 25 g starch 18 g cocoa powder 38 g butter (melted) I followed the recipe precisely (only my butter was melted and waited at room temperature not at 40-50C like recommended in the video). Firstly, my ribbons while beating egg, sugar and honey mixture were really priminent - is there a thing as overbeating the batter? Secondly, I noticed my oven temp was 160°C (with fan on) instead on 165°C as recommended- this mistake I know i made - is 5°C dofference big enough to cause the genoise to nit rise at the middle? And ine more thing - the very important one - here in Europe, we don't have names for flour as in America and maybe some other countries. Here we have soft/smooth flour (like manitoba 00) and coarse flour that isn't ground that mich to a powder consistenci, but rather a tiny bit less. I read that cake flour is supposed to have between 5 and 8 % protein. I was choosing a flour for a long time..in the end I got the coarser flour and chose the one with least protein I could find. It has the folowing characteristics: Fat: 1% Carbohydrates: 72% Protein: 9,8% Fiber: 2,3% Was the flour a bad choice? Here are some pictures of the genoise: Batter when poured into the vake pan Whilebaking in the oven (first 5 minutes) After 30 min I checked on the genoise (the smell was hinting it was ready) and when i inserted a toothpick in the center it came out clean. So I removed it from the oven after 30 min. This was the result Here are pictures of sections: Bottom section Middle section Top section All the layers side by side (bottom left to top right) Btw, the honey is very prominent in smell and taste (a bit too honey-y. I used chesnut honey). The bottom section was most dense and probably wouldn't break easily (not as spongey). The middle one was very light and not dense at all - it had the most pleasant consistency and structure in my opinion. Plese share your opinions with me - where did I go wrong?

The recipe appeared in a magazine in the early 70's - Australian Cherry Coconut Pie. A double crust of sweet pastry with 2 layers inside: - Bottom layer of cherry - canned cherries, juice boiled and thickened with cornstarch - Top layer of coconut - eggs (or eggwhite), sugar, unsweetened coconut flakes, possibly almond extract All encased in a bottom and top pastry crust. Would be ever thankful if someone has a recipe. Thanks!!

Aunt Susan and Aunt Betty used to bake over 50 pounds of fruitcake (my mother was a co-conspirator and I an active helper) for Christmas to be distributed amongst family and friends. Beautifully wrapped parcels would be sent with the driver to homes of relatives and friends as a Christmas and New Year gift. Mind you, Aunt Susan (Christian from Kerala) is married to Uncle Raj a Hindu. Aunt Betty is really Dr. Prabha Manchanda (Sikh by birth, secular by practice). This is a tradition we all follow not for religious reasons, but to continue what was brought to India with the foreign rulers. It makes for great festive mood. And all us kids loved this cake. The fruits were soaked in Gigantic Jars for 21 days in rum. Rum was more affordable than Cognac for certain and also easily available. I use Susan Auntie’s recipe each year. It is a big hit at the annual Holiday Bash that I have become famous for amongst friends and theirs. The cake is 9x12 and is made using 2 bottles of Cognac. I make at least 6 batches for the season. One with Armagnac and this is the one I serve for New Year. The reason I wanted to start this thread is that as I was putting stuff into the refrigerator, I realized that I had a 9/12 inch Fruit Cake from last year. I save each year at least one cake for the next year. This is a custom in the family and I am told it is also practiced in the UK. Is that true? We save the cake in a tin but the cake is wrapped in several layers of fine muslin that has been soaked in rum (Armagnac in my case) and every month you add more rum (Armagnac) into the cake. I drizzle lots of it all over the cake and then wrap the cake again and drizzle more over the already soaking muslin cloth. I then sprinkle confectioners sugar and wrap the muslin in Saran wrap and then place in the box, use another layer of Saran wrap and seal the box securely. The cake is always moist and by the next year, it is sublime. I had a nice piece of it just a few minutes ago. I have a buzz. There is LOTS of alcohol in this. Do others have their own Fruit Cake stories? What recipes do you use? Where do you get them? Do you even like Fruit Cake? Who eats them anymore? What makes a good fruit cake? What fruit do you use?

Working on my chocolate genoise recipe and running into an issue with my sponge. For reference, I am using an 8x4" aluminum cake pan. My genoise makes 3-4 layers. I baked my batter at 350˚F for 40 minutes, mostly based on visual cues. As you can see, the top slice had underdone batter that I was able to remove like a tumor. There's underdone batter in both the top slice and middle slice. However, the periphery of the middle slice, and the entire bottom slice, are overdone and dry. Does anyone have a fix for this? Specifically: - How to bake the sponge so that the bottom isn't overdone and the center isn't underdone - Bonus if you can help me get a flat top so that I can salvage a 4th slice from this recipe My recipe: 7 eggs (430g) 215g granulated sugar 43g cocoa powder 8g kosher salt 86g cornstarch 172g pastry flour 43g ghee, warmed 8g vanilla paste Add eggs, sugar, cocoa, and salt to mixer bowl and heat over double boiler while constantly whisking. Heat until hot to the touch, then remove from heat and whisk on high until doubled/tripled in volume. (I wasn't able to reach ribbon stage, probably because of the amount of cocoa, so I will be reducing the amount in the future.) Sift together cornstarch and flour, then fold into batter until nearly combined. Add ½-1 cup batter to the ghee along with vanilla paste. Mix vigorously until combined and smooth. Gently fold this portion back into the whole cake batter. Bake in preheated oven at 350˚ for 40 minutes. [UPDATE] Thank you for your suggestions! They were incredibly helpful, and because of your input, I was able to make a huge breakthrough. Please ignore the tunneling...I was in a bit of a time crunch and should have been more thorough. My two changes were: I mixed my cocoa powder with just enough hot water to make it into a homogenous paste. Once my eggs and sugar were at ribbon stage, I took a portion and folded in my chocolate paste, then poured that mixture back into the batter while it was mixing at low speed. I let the mixer run until the mixture was homogenous, then folded in my dry ingredients and ghee/vanilla like normal. Reduced the oven temperature to 325˚F and baked the cake for 50 minutes. Because of these changes, I got a sponge that was as moist on the top slice as it was on the bottom, however there was no underdone batter. The cake rose nicely and I was able to get 5 layers from i, which exceeded my expectations! Updated recipe below: My UPDATED recipe: 7 eggs (430g) 215g granulated sugar 43g cocoa powder 75g boiling water 8g kosher salt 86g cornstarch 172g pastry flour 43g ghee, warmed 8g vanilla paste Add eggs, sugar, and salt to mixer bowl and heat over double boiler while constantly whisking. Heat until hot to the touch, then remove from heat and whisk on high until the mixture reaches ribbon stage, 5-6 minutes. While the batter is mixing on high speed, dissolve the cocoa powder into boiling water and mix to a smooth paste. Turn the mixer speed down to medium-low. Take ½-1 cup of the batter and fold in the chocolate paste. Gradually add the chocolate batter to the main batter and allow mixture to mix until homogenous. Sift together cornstarch and flour, then fold into batter until nearly combined. Add ½-1 cup batter to the ghee along with vanilla paste. Mix vigorously until combined and smooth. Gently fold this portion back into the whole cake batter. Bake in preheated oven at 325˚ for 50 minutes.

cakes, cookies, pies, that makes you smile!!!!

Cool to see him using the same melanger that many of us have gotten from Premier. Interesting flavors and some information on recipe development. @Kerry Beal while their chocolate looks well tempered, they could probably use an EZ Temper to help with their workflow. 🙂 https://youtu.be/E2g-QZG4Vbg?si=pyK4eF2uxU1LTluj

I just bought a copy of The Cake Bible! Would anyone care to list some of their favorite recipes from this book? There are so many wonderful recipes, I don't know which one to try first. Thanks

Hi all! I just got a copy of The Cake Bible, and I'm very excited. I have a question, though. For reverse creaming, I've always added softened butter to the dry ingredients and mixed until sandy, then added the eggs and other liquids. In TCB, Rose (who I think invented reverse creaming?) adds the butter and not a small amount of liquid to the dry ingredients and says to mix until the dry ingredients are moistened. Obviously, she knows what she's doing, lol. I guess I just worry that the butter won't be evenly dispersed and in small enough pieces by the time the dry ingredients are "moistened." Anyone else overthink crap like this? Michael

Hi all! My daughter and I are headed to Belgium this summer, just for a few days, and would love to sample and visit some great spots. Right now we just have Chocolate World in Antwerp on our agenda. I'd love any suggestions on unique (or not unique!) chocolate or pastry experiences. Or places to avoid! Thank you! Jen

Once again, I tried to recreate my mother's shortbread cookies, using her recipe, and they didn't turn out. They were so crumbly they fell apart when you picked them up. I'm very attached to this particular recipe -- she told me that she got it from the first boy who ever kissed her, whose Scottish mother was renowned for them. That's one way to get a recipe!) She made them at all holidays. Here the recipe: 1 cup of butter 1/2 cup of sugar 2 cups of flour pinch salt I've been creaming the butter and suger and adding the flour, chilling it and rolling it out and baking them at about 300 degrees. They spread more than hers did and they're just way crumbly. The taste is good, though. I wish I could as her for advice, but she's no longer with us -- can anyone help me?

My father's 70th birthday is this Friday. We are celebrating on Saturday. I've been asked to bring and angel food cake. I've never made one before, and I've heard rumors that it is difficult, you have to have everything "just so" or it will have the wrong texture. I would be most grateful for recipes that have worked for you, and for tips that might help me not screw up my first angel food cake. I would like for it to be slightly more exotic than plain angel food cake, but I'm not sure how. Could a lemon-ginger angel food cake be made? In any case, I've got three angel food cake pans, two round and one square. I *think* I have all of the equipment necessary. I will possible have to travel with the cake a few hours, I'm not sure if that will affect anything. If worse comes to worse I'll just get up at the break of dawn, drive and (shudder) use my mother's kitchen. Any advice and help will be much appreciated!

Finally picked up a 500 ml ISI, and am looking for things to do with it as a home cook (not that the discussion should be limited to home cooking applications). Beyond the five mixtures suggested in the booklet that came with it, what have you tried that works out well? Any other general advice, applications or ideas will be appreciated.

Hi everybody! I'm doing popsicles out of my pacojet ice cream! I've been making it in those silikomart silicon molds. The problem is to get the ice cream out of the molds perfectly I need to freeze the ice cream pretty hard, like way below -20C. Only when it gets frozen hard, it comes out in a pretty perfect shape, otherwise it gets all broken. The popsicle is a red berry ice cream (this recipe works really well in the pacojet!) and I coat it with a really bright white chocolate (I use titanium dioxide for the colour), looks great, but when you bite in to it you see the ice cristals (yes, I do use stabilizer!). The recipe I use is the following and I would love some inputs on how I can make this recipe softer/creamier after the popsicle gets coated and its store in a normal freezer at -18C. Red berry ice cream: 600g cream 600g milk 600g red berry puree 120g yolks 370g açúcar 10g stabilizer Thanks for the inputs!!!

This is my mother's recipe, which always cracks. If followed to the recipe it's texture is more chunky than creamy. Recently I've tried using a water bath at 350 for 15 minutes, then 325 for 35 more. I've had decent success in stopping the crack, but I lose the texture -- though more people seem to prefer it that way. 1 lb cream cheese 1 lb ricotta 1 pint sour cream 4 eggs 1 ½ cup sugar ¼ lb salt butter 1 ½ tbs lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla 3 tbs cornstarch 3 tbs flour Bake 1 hour @ 350 In any case, for a change I was thinking about trying to use wide mouth mason jars (8 oz) for individual cheesecakes using my Anova stick. Using the same ingredients (I'm ok with skipping the flour and starch) what temperature should I use and for how long should I "bake" for? I was thinking I would pour the custard into the jars, and put the jars in the bath with the water level reaching above the custard. Or should I try sealing the jar and just submerging the whole shebang? I'm unsure of the latter, due to condensate and I definitely don't want these guys cracking. TIA for your suggestions.

I have not posted for a time due to work load. Let me expand a bit. At the beginning of December I was asked by a local bowls and social club if I would be interested in cooking a dinner every Friday evening for members of the club. I accepted the challenge and was supposed to start the catering at the beginning of February - except the previous catering folk decided to abscond in December and thus I started the catering at the beginning of January. I have now done three Friday evening dinners with the fourth next week. Dinner consists of two courses - either a starter and main or main and dessert. Being summer at the moment, I am doing mains and deserts until the winter months start. Now, it may be a bit unlucky for some (I am not superstitious), but Valentines Day is on a Saturday this year and thus Friday the 13th is my meal evening and I was thinking of a simple dessert for the approximately 50 club members who order the Friday meal, with a Valentine's theme. My initial thoughts were a heart shaped meringue with a dollop of cream topped with red berries. However, I am not too sure of the availability of fresh red berries nor their cost at the moment. Also, these meals are low budget (what isn't these days) and thus I need to keep this in mind. Right, other than my meringue idea, mentioned above, anybody wish to throw in some thoughts or ideas?

Last night I made "Fudgy Chocolate-Walnut Cookies (flourless)" for a Seder dinner tonight. What emerged from the oven weren't cookies at all, but rather a crisp puddle with vaguely cookie-shaped broken pieces floating on it. Tastes wonderful, but looks pretty bad. No photos--too ugly. The recipe includes 9 oz. toasted walnuts chopped very fine in the food processor, 3 cups confectioner's sugar, 1/2 cup + 3 Tbs. Dutch process cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 Tbs. vanilla, and 4 egg whites (unwhipped) . The instructions say to preheat the oven to 350 and bake for 20 minutes. My first thought is that the oven temperature is too high for anything with egg whites in it. Any other ideas? I will try this again at a lower temperature, but there's no time to do it today (plus I'm out of both walnuts and confectioner's sugar). I'll bring them tonight, but it's a little embarrassing to have to break this big dark brown cookie/cracker into uneven pieces to serve it. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks-- Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Before I start experimenting, does anyone here have an understanding of how pate de fruits would be affected by fatty ingredients? Boiron has a formula for coconut, but I don't now how fatty their coconut puree is. I recall eating an olive oil pate de fruit somewhere in Australia and wondering how it worked. Is pectin gel formation affected by fat? Would the texture be softer? Greweling does not make any mention of fat in the section on jellies, obviously with most fruit it is not an issue. Berries and cream, pbj, melon with prosciutto... will it work?