Pondering The Purchase Of "the Cake Bible": Your T

Decorating By rainbowz Updated 27 Nov 2005 , 7:10pm by MrsMissey

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rainbowz Posted 27 Nov 2005 , 2:42am
post #1 of 8

Well, the title pretty much says it, I'm thinking of getting a copy of "The Cake Bible" and it seems to have decent reviews over on Amazon, but I wanted to hear from anyone on here about their personal take on the book and if there were others you'd recommend, not necessarily instead of this one but as a companion to.

So, what say ye who have perused it?

7 replies
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CIndymm4 Posted 27 Nov 2005 , 2:53am
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I LOVE this book....it really goes into depth about the how and why of baking and tells you all the different techniques, not to mention the differnt types of sugar, cakes, frostings, etc........I think this book is well worth your time. I have alot of cook books, most of them dealing with sweets and cakes and this one is my favorite......if you bake bread, the Bread Bible is another wonderful book to add to your collection.

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Cake_Princess Posted 27 Nov 2005 , 4:26am
post #3 of 8

I borrowed it from the library. It has a lot of information in it. I scanned what I needed amd stored them on my computer. I will eventually get the book. It's just not one of My priorities.

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dailey Posted 27 Nov 2005 , 6:03am
post #4 of 8

this book is a must for a "baker". i have baked hundreds of cakes and most of my favorites come from this book. you do have to be sure to follow her recipes to a tee though, i have a scale and measure all the ingredients. btw, i made her pumpkin pie recipe (from a different book) for thanksgiving and it was amazing!

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Cakepro Posted 27 Nov 2005 , 6:24pm
post #5 of 8

Love it! It's well worth the $. I refer to it frequently.

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SugarCreations Posted 27 Nov 2005 , 6:29pm
post #6 of 8

Go for it! Excellent book.

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itsacake Posted 27 Nov 2005 , 6:48pm
post #7 of 8

I like "The Cake Bible" a lot, and contrary to what other people have said here and in other venues, I find I can change Rose Levy Beranbaum's reicpes and use rice milk instead of milk and shortening and water instead of butter and an occassional whole egg instead of two yolks and so on. Especially once you've read/studied the "Understanding" sections of the book, you'll know why things work as they do and what you can get away with changing.

The fact that she gives measurements by weight as well as volume I find extremely helpful becasue I'd much rather weigh my ingredients.

I find Beranbaum's basic chocolate cake recipe to be pretty dry--and even people who haven't changed a thing have said this, but I just had a taste test last night between her basic yellow cake which I had changed to a non-dairy fornula and another yellow cake from a non-dairy book, and The Cake Bible yellow cake won almost across the board for texture and got a lot of "best taste" votes too. (There were 8 pepole tasting the 2 cakes without icing or filling)

There are tables in the back of the book which detail how much icing for different sizes of cakes, and there is a system for how much batter to make if you use her basic reicpes in various sizes of pans. There are also extended instructions for various wedding cakes to serve 150 or more.

Definitely a useful book.

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MrsMissey Posted 27 Nov 2005 , 7:10pm
post #8 of 8

Two words...LOVE IT!

It goes into the science of baking and gives you a good understanding of what you are doing. It is a great addition to my cookbook collection!!

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