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CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch by Warren Brown
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Warren Brown Photographer: Renee Comet Edition: Hardcover Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2008-05-01 ISBN: 1584796626 Number of pages: 224 Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang
Book Reviews of CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from ScratchBook Review: I'm In Love with Cake Love Cakes- It was Love at First Bite! Summary: 5 Stars
I first became aware of Warren on the Food Network when they did a special that featured his store, Cake Love years ago. That was followed up by two seasons of Sugar Rush, which sadly didn't feature his own recipes but the creative works of other chefs around the country. He mentioned doing a cookbook on his website about a year and a half ago and asked for suggestions. I quickly submitted some ideas along with other readers and I was glad to see that they are present in the book. I have been waiting for over a year and a half for this book to come out so I immediately baked a cake the day it arrived and it was very lovely. I really enjoyed the texture and flavor! I'm looking forward to making several of the other recipes.
Warren approaches cake baking with a few different ingredients that are part of each basic cake recipe and a slightly different philosophy than your average cookbook. Warren provides information on alterations for baking at high altitudes , not only the ingredient quantity, but cooking times as well. He also gives a few notes on baking in high humidity. He also gives information on different baking temperatures based on having a conventional or convection oven. Warren advises that one should sift the flour into a bowl that is on the scale to avoid dry heavy cakes if you can. This is different from the 3 main approaches, which are dip and sweep, fill the measuring cup spoon by spoon, or simply weighting the ingredients with a scale w/o sifting first. If you don't have a scale he also offers the dry ingredients in cups, but advises the use of a scale due to what his experiments showed was the best measuring method. This and many other crucial steps are in his introduction as well as in the directions, so you must take time to read through his notes for a successful cake.
Warren really takes you by the hand in this book and tries to school you in his personal philosophy of cake baking. He shows you several photos on the creaming stages, how to ice a cake, how to make curd as well as great photos of many of the cakes. Even more pictures can be found at his website.
The way he lays out the recipes is also very helpful in making sure you have a successful guide. For example ingredients are lined up according to whether they are dry, liquid, or part of the creaming or foam steps. I've not had the experience of seeing a cookbook do this and it's helpful.
He is also the first cookbook author to my knowledge to offer alcohol free variations of his cakes. This is fabulous for those who want to avoid the alcohol present in vanilla extract and other alcohol based ingredients. Many people are unaware that even small amounts of alcohol are an issue for a variety of reasons for some people. I commend him for that effort. Many folks just omit that alcoholic ingredient but his changes make sure you are still getting the flavor intended.
Perhaps the strange thing in this book is that, in order to start his recipes you do need to have, extra fine sugar, and potato starch (not corn starch) on hand, which you can order inexpensively (the potato starch) or buy in the ethnic sections of some markets. He explains why he advocates the use of extra fine sugar in the book. Some recipes also call for vanilla powder. The recipe offerings in general are really nice, some are rather unique.
I like that he advises unbleached flour and occasionally goes for unrefined sugars. Everyone isn't ready for whole grain baking although it's the best option, some small changes like this are better than most books which call for bleached flours. He also advocates the use of fair trade chocolate as well. Warren really tries to address a variety of issues in his book that are challenges for some people, such as going toward not using artificial ingredients for sufferers of multiple chemical sensitivity problems.
Overall, this book takes a lot of effort to school you in his way of doing things and he explains scientifically why his ideas work. He tells you right off the bat "this is a tour of how and why I bake cakes from scratch." He really takes you by the hand with photos and explanations to make this different style easier for you. It might be a little different than what is common to most people, but it produces a really nice cake. This is his style, it works for him, it has made his store successful, thus garnering nation wide attention and so it's worth a try. You can continue in following the philosophy of other bakers that have given you success as well as trying his, you just may find that Warren's method is one that you really enjoy.
Summary of CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from ScratchWarren Brown wants you to bake your cake and eat it too. And he wants you to conquer your fear of flour and learn to love every step of cake baking—including, of course, the step in which you present your made-from-scratch masterpiece to bedazzled, hungry-eyed family and friends. (Not to mention the moment when you yourself get to sample a slice of that lovingly crafted creation.)
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.
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