• deanasma on June 17, 2019

  A fun book and the author goes into detail on each step. As with all books originating in the USA, there are some recipes that are not easily recreated if you do not live there, but they are still fun to try and recreate if you feel adventurous and can play with alternative ingredients.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• White cake homemade box mix

  • EmilyR on April 01, 2024

    Made for Easter cupcakes with some amendments due to what we had... low fat milk powder, 1/4 c less sugar, whole eggs instead of just whites, and pineapple juice for half of the water. Even so, these turned out very well. I'm never a fan of boxed mixes so I appreciate this little mix.

• Gesine's tried-and-true yellow cake

  • hibeez on May 14, 2026

    Made three 6” cakes. First one I split into 3 layers and filled with lemon curd and frosted with white buttercream with a hint on lemon in it. The cake may have been a teeny bit dense but overall it was pretty good. Should try with chocolate frosting.

• Frasier sponge

  • hibeez on July 06, 2025

    This was a lovely cake. I was initially concerned about all the extra cornstarch, but all for naught. the cake was light and delicious, as the foundation in the strawberry mousse cake. The 9" cake was slightly smaller than the 9" springform pan I used to assemble it; next time, I may just bake it in the springform pan ahead of time, so that there is not a gap. As with another genoise from this book, I had to bake it an additional 15 minutes. Not sure if it's my (new) oven or the recipe. Will be testing the oven temp soon. I did not trim the edges; the book photo makes it look like it was trimmed. Guests liked the crispy-ish edges. Update: my oven is running about 25 degrees low, which likely affected the bake time.

• Schoko Crossies à la Gesine

  • hibeez on January 11, 2026

    I've made these twice, and they are delicious! Did not put them in any cake, just ate them as treats. My caramel seemed to get darker than she suggests, and it was a bit difficult to stir the nuts and flakes. The first time, I left it in one large piece when I put the chocolate on, but found when I tried to break it later, the caramel was hard and the chocolate melted in my hands. The next time, I broke it up a bit before I put the chocolate on and it worked better. Will definitely make again, and will also try to put it in a cake.

• Fraisier cake

  • hibeez on July 06, 2025

    This was delicious! The cake was light, the mousse was light and creamy (did not notice that it had gelatin in it); the glaze was a bit thick but that's on me. My challenges were a few. I did not strain the puree but did end up forcing the mousse through a sieve to get rid of cream cheese bits; might have had a bit less than required. Taking her advice, I made the cake 2 days beforehand. It's probably best to make the mousse close to the time you are assembling the cake. There is a lot going on in this cake; the recipe references 4 or 5 other recipes in the book. (I had them all tagged so I could find them) While complicated, it was not difficult - and very much worth the effort. Four people ate half one night; four people ate the second half the next night. It was nearly the same on the second night, after a night in the fridge. Everyone loved the assembled cake but also raved about the individual cake elements. An impressive cake!