Notes about Recipes in this book

• Chocolatey chocolate cake

  • bwhip on April 11, 2019

    Great chocolate cake recipe. Easy to throw together, with fantastic deep chocolate flavor and soft texture. Stays really good for a few days. I used hot coffee as alternative to hot water (as recipe also offers), with grapeseed oil, both times I've made this so far. Once I topped with coffee whipped cream, another with the tangy mascarpone icing in the same cookbook. Both turned out excellent.

  • anya_sf on October 15, 2019

    Super quick and easy to make. I made 24 cupcakes for a bake sale. I had to fill the liners 2/3-3/4 full, but the cupcakes baked up just fine, just needing a few extra minutes in the oven. The chocolate flavor was there, but wasn't super intense - perfect for kids. I topped them with mascarpone easy creamy icing (double recipe).

  • gtrezz on March 04, 2020

    I've made this recipe in sheet cake form a couple of times and topped it with the cream cheese frosting recipe from this book. The cake really is simple to make and turns out really moist. Several people commented that they don't normally like cake, but they had second helpings of this one.

  • Rradishes on October 20, 2022

    Great chocolate cake. Made a double batch for toddler's birthday party along with the mascarpone buttercream. Delicious! Definitely will return to this recipe for other chocolate cake occasions.

  • kshell on August 11, 2023

    Easy and good. Baked as cupcakes. I do wish I had found foil liners as the paper ones were a bit wet on the bottom after baking. I got exactly 24 cupcakes out of this recipe and the marshmallow frosting was just the right amount with a bit leftover. That marshmallow frosting was EXCELLENT. Good paired with the cake.

  • mzgourmand on January 02, 2026

    Easy, delicious chocolate cake. Nice light texture and tasted better the next day. Paired it with her sour cream chocolate ganache - also very easy and nice.

• Very vanilla cake

  • Astrid5555 on May 19, 2019

    Very vanilla-y, a little bit more involved than her 2 bowl cakes, this one needs a stand mixer. Filled and topped with mascarpone whipped cream and strawberries.

  • mzgourmand on October 02, 2019

    I love this recipe and will happily eat the cake even without frosting or a glaze - and as I'm a sugarhead, frostings are often my favorite part of a cake! That said, it is a bit more dense than many other cakes that I've made - and I've made the recipe several times now - and my family does not share my wholehearted love for it. I lazily use vanilla bean extraction paste - which imparts a super-vanilla flavor to recipes - instead of fussing with the vanilla beans etc.

  • TrishaCP on April 25, 2020

    I love vanilla and this is the cake for me. I used cake flour per one of the variations and it was not too dense.

  • Rradishes on October 20, 2022

    Great flavor and texture, definitely will repeat. Made in cupcake form for a birthday party the day before. Tasted great the next day and everyone loved them. This recipe will be great in basically any vanilla / yellow cake.

• Cinnamon spice cake

  • Lepa on October 20, 2019

    This is good but not great. I made this with the butter/cinnamon sugar topping and the combination was too sweet for me. Also, while I like spice cake the spice mixture in this didn't wow me. I did like the texture and orange flavor.

• Milk and honey cake

  • Lepa on August 18, 2020

    I thought this was okay. We had it with honey whipped cream and fresh strawberries. The strawberries were a good contrast to the sweet, one-note cake and whipped cream.

  • Cotonqueen on September 01, 2020

    A superb texture, and haunting flavor from the honey, make this a remarkable cake. It's a different profile from the usual vanilla or yellow or chocolate cakes, love this cake. Mascarpone frosting was dead simple, and elegant.

• Tangy olive oil cake

  • Rradishes on October 24, 2022

    Good flavor, good coffee cake. The recipe makes 2 cake pans, but both cakes came out pretty thin. Nice orange flavor, would be good in a layer cake with some fruit in between the layers.

• Chocolate-orange olive oil cake

  • ChelseaP on July 07, 2022

    Loved this! Chocolate and orange in a cake go so well together.

• Versatile coconut cake

  • Astrid5555 on April 28, 2019

    Delivers on promised simple cake. No mixer needed, just a wooden spoon. Topped with half a recipe of the Coconut glaze from the same book. Since I was pressed on time I could not wait for the cake to cool completely before adding the glaze. Delicious!

  • wcassity on April 15, 2021

    Moist and tasty. Used sweetened coconut; sprinkled with powdered sugar.

  • Rradishes on May 16, 2022

    Wow, what a great cake. Really easy to make (mix everything in one bowl, no need to soften the butter), and results in a light, very flavorful, buttery coconut cake. Recipe makes for 1 layer which is perfect for an afternoon cake. Can double or triple for a layer cake, this base will be amazing in a layer cake.

  • ChelseaP on July 07, 2022

    Incredibly easy and delicious coconut cake.

  • JulieB50 on March 12, 2024

    Delicious cake and easy to make! I doubled the recipe to make a 10-cup Bundt cake. I added the coconut glaze in the cookbook. I’ll definitely make this again!

  • kari500 on December 03, 2024

    We were away for Thanksgiving weekend, but my birthday fell on the next Monday, so I needed something quick and easy but delicious. This absolutely fit the bill. I topped with the coconut glaze from the book and some additional shredded coconut, and I love it.

• Raspberry coconut cake

  • anya_sf on October 08, 2019

    In addition to the raspberries, I added cardamom as I couldn't decide which variation to bake. The raspberry ended up more prominent, so I probably wouldn't bother mixing them next time, although both combinations are yummy. Per the suggestion, I coated the pan with coconut, which worked nicely. The cake took a little over 40 minutes to bake in my 9" bundt (only half full of batter). It turned out moist and sweet with lots of coconut. My family enjoyed it.

• Coconut and cardamom cake

  • Lepa on October 13, 2019

    This cake is easy to mix together, isn't too sweet and has a great texture from the coconut. We ate it with coconut glaze (p 70), which was a nice combination. I cooked this in an eight inch Bundt pan and it needed 34 minutes to fully bake.

• Lovely lemon yogurt cake

  • Astrid5555 on May 01, 2019

    I am all for baking an elaborate cake, but once in a while I just want a cake that can be made without a stand mixer on a weeknight. This cake definitely fits the bill, a little tangy from the Greek yogurt and very lemony, a hit with my co-workers.

  • vickid59 on April 19, 2020

    I used full fat sour cream in lieu of the difficult to find Greek full fat yogurt (quarantine 2020). I added 1/2 T of lemon pure paste from King Arthur + lemon juice & zest. I ?? lemons. Used springform pan instead of loaf pan. Topped it with her berry crumble with walnuts. Bake time was about 65 minutes with a tin foil cover for the last 20. DELICIOUS! The cake has a moist crumb and the crumble takes it to the next level!

  • Rradishes on October 20, 2022

    Made this in a loaf pan. Great recipe! So easy (made this with my toddler) and delicious, great flavor. I should've baked it for another 5min but still tasted great. Will repeat.

  • kshell on July 27, 2023

    Will definitely make again. As someone who prefers plain cakes I can't believe I am typing this but... next time I'm going to top with a powdered sugar glaze. The lemon and yogurt tang was so forward (in the best way) that I think it will go well. Baked in a 9 in. round, needed half a lime to get to the right amount of citrus juice and used some plain yogurt with the Greek yogurt too.

• Poppy seed yogurt cake

  • anya_sf on October 08, 2019

    I experimented by substituting whole wheat pastry (graham) flour for all-purpose. The loaf was flatter and possibly denser, but it was still tender and moist. The wheat flavor was definitely noticeable, but my family quite enjoyed it, as we had this for breakfast. The whole grain muted the sweetness. Next time I'd probably use white whole wheat flour for a milder wheat flavor.

• Berry crumble yogurt cake

  • aliseroberts on August 16, 2019

    This had good flavor but it was super rich. I would prefer to add lemon to another blueberry buckle recipe I have.

• Madeleines

  • CheesyKranskyLove on October 04, 2022

    Honestly worth getting a madeleine pan for this

  • anya_sf on November 20, 2023

    Really delicious flavor. With the batter made a day ahead and chilled, and pans frozen before baking, the madeleines developed the classic hump. I always struggle to fill madeleine pans evenly, and not overfill them; this time I did okay on the regular-size ones, but failed on the mini ones. The slightly open texture also made the mini ones look terrible (but of course we ate them anyway).

• Almond gató

  • Lepa on April 11, 2020

    This is an easy cake and had a lovely, light texture. I was concerned it would be too plain but with some powdered sugar and toasted nuts (as recommended in the recipe) it was lovely.

• Coconut glaze

  • Lepa on October 13, 2019

    This was great with the coconut cardamom cake (p. 45).

• Mascarpone easy creamy icing

  • anya_sf on October 15, 2019

    Super easy to make and work with. I doubled the recipe to frost 24 chocolate cupcakes. The mascarpone flavor wasn't so noticeable; the icing tasted more like vanilla, which was fine for these cupcakes.

• Beautiful buttercream

  • Rradishes on August 19, 2022

    Great flavor, made a triple batch for cupcakes, but reduced sugar by about half or so. Still was plenty sweet and delicious!

• Toblerone ganache

  • kshell on August 04, 2024

    Really tasty. I again find the book lacks guidance around final texture or use, and storage. It stays liquid at room temp. I tried to thicken it a bit by vigorously whisking but only managed to add air bubbles that were visible when I spooned it onto my cake. Cold from the fridge it's more of a proper frosting, I could swoop and swirl it and it can be applied more thickly.

• Chocolate sour cream ganache frosting

  • mzgourmand on January 02, 2026

    Very easy and nice. Quality of frosting of course is dependent on quality of chocolate chips. I did Ghiradelli b/c it called for semi-sweet - would do a better and more bitter grade of chocolate next time.

• Silky marshmallow icing

  • kshell on August 11, 2023

    SO GOOD! I wish the recipe had storage instructions. I still don't know if this needs to be kept cool? I made just before a party so I wouldn't need to refrigerate the cupcakes. I had a bit of frosting left over and it's the next day now. For anyone wondering the cold blob straight from the fridge is still spreadable but texture is firmer.

• A dining-in cake

  • Jviney on October 29, 2020

    These were very good. I made them in Le Creuset cocottes and got eight, and that serving was probably too large but we all ate them anyway. I skipped the whipped cream on top and it would have been much prettier with it. Everyone enjoyed them.

• Oh, Canada! lemon berry crumble cake

  • lou_weez on April 10, 2020

    Brilliant! I used a variety of berries as that's what I had.

  • Kmsylvestre on May 08, 2026

    Very good. Made it for book club and everyone loved it.

• Diced cinnamon donut cakes

  • Lepa on October 20, 2019

    These were too sweet for my taste.

  • anya_sf on October 23, 2019

    I made 2/3 recipe (original, not double batch) in a 9"x9" pan; baking time was about 27 minutes. One tablespoon of butter was sufficient to brush on top. I used my own cinnamon-sugar mix which has double the cinnamon. The whole grain flavor was noticeable in a good way. The texture was light and moist. My family enjoyed these as a slightly healthier alternative to donuts.

• Food52

  Williams shares recipes for ten cakes ...and fifteen toppings...many of them mixable and matchable. This comes out to over a hundred and fifty different cakes...

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• Eat Your Books

  Have your cake and made simply, too.

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