| The Cake Bible |  | Author: Rose Levy Beranbaum
Publisher: Macmillan
Category: Book
Buy Used: $129.26
Avg. Customer Rating:  158 reviews
Format: Import
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
ISBN: 0333511824
EAN: 9780333511824
ASIN: 0333511824
Publication Date: March 20, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Excellent customer service. Order inquiries handled promptly.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 153 more reviews...
 The ultimate authority on cakes August 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Rose Levy Berenbaum has written the last word on baking beautiful and delicious cakes at home. Period. End of Story. Her approach is precise and scientific, as all good baking must be. Her instructions are detailed and, if followed precisely--and with the requisite skills--are absolutely foolproof.
So why the negative reviews? Well, folks, the truth is that most home cooks who think they know about how to bake actually don't have a clue. Either they rely on a handful of tried-and-true recipes or they take refuge in boxed mixes and prefab frostings. Berenbaum's book is not directed to these folks. They need to go on making their pineapple upside down cakes and Gramma's Famous Pound Cake, and sticky-sweet peach cobbler and Minty Easter Surprise Cupcakes.
Baking is NOT an easy skill to learn at the Rose Berenbaum/Paula Peck level. In the first place, beginners reared on box cakes must learn what real cake looks like, feels like, and tastes like. Then they need to realize that part of the reason that box cakes taste so foul is because the manufacturers have poured them full of conditioners and assorted chemicals to make them as foolproof as possible. Becoming a serious baker means learning a new set of skills. Consider your typical yellow cake from a mix. You can slam the door, drop the pan, or probably detonate a small nuclear device right beside the oven and the cake won't fall. Try that with a "real" cake and you'll end up with a nasty, dense pancake in the bottom of the pan. So if you're going to use Berenbaum's book to greatest advantage, you're going to have to devote some time to climbing the learning curve. As a starting point (for the benefit of some of the negative reviewers) genoise IS dry, that's why you moisten it. And buttercream DOES taste like butter...
For the experienced home baker, this book cannot be recommended too highly. And for the beginner who is willing to learn, it can be a great adventure. The first time you fly up from Duncan Hines to a wonderful, syrup-laden genoise with a ganache filling and buttercream on the top and sides, you'll never look back. Enjoy!!!
Understanding Baking August 28, 2008
This is an excellent book that helps you understand why you need to use specific items and what results to expect when you do or don't. I changed many of my pans and added utensils & gadgets and received better baking results.
Excellent recepies August 1, 2008
I bought this book a few months ago. My first cake was the Golden Almond cake. I have tried other recipes from other books, and never comes out the way is suppose to, but with this book, I have not made a recipe that I do not like yet. I made the Perfect Pound Cake, and I have gotten great reviews on it. Also made the all American Chocolate cake and the Devils Food cake, plus others. I have follow the recipes to the T and better yet weight my ingredients as described. For the first time I have found a book that will give what it says. Rose Levy Beranbaum has a golden book. My aunt fell in love with the book too, and I have to give her my book, because I could not get it to ship to Puerto Rico. Of course, I end up getting me another book. It is definitely the Cake Bible. I love this book, and I would be lost without it. I recommend it to anyone.
 the worst recipes July 12, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this book (quite expensive) and was so excited about trying the recipes. I read from beginning to end, and decided these cakes must be awsome. Boy OH BOY! I have been baking for awhile with great results, but these recipes were a disaster. Horribly dry, buttercreams tasted like whipped butter. No matter what liquers you added they still tasted horribly bland. The PERFECT ALL AMERICAN CHOCOLATE CAKE was any but perfect. All I did was waste my time, money, and great ingredients. The cakes were dry dry dry and did I mention BLAND. Even when you added the syrup it was still awfull. I am really suprised to see how many people thought this book was any worth anyone time.
Wonderful recipes July 3, 2008
Haven't tried a recipe from this book yet that has failed in any way. The recipes are really excellent and her presentations are out of this world. Although some are quite labor intensive, the outcome is worth the effort. Highly recommend this book to any aspiring baker who wants to make an impact or impress with a cake. Wonderful!
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