• AllieTaylor on November 23, 2024

  Most of the notes below are actually for the original book, and must have been pulled over. I know this as a note that I wrote appears below. Well, I only got the book today so haven’t had time to bake a cake, let alone write a note. Added to which, the cake recipe, for which I wrote the note, doesn’t even appear in this edition of the book! So, for your information, the notes may or may not refer to this edition of the book. If you look at the dates of the notes, only one is from 2024; all the rest are well before this book was published. One might say ‘so what’, but the notes refer specifically to the recipes, which Rose clearly states in the revised edition that she revisited and altered, taking account of changes in taste (hers as well as generally), ingredients, availability of equipment, etc. So, using these notes is unreliable to say the very least.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• My classic pound cake

  • schambers on February 11, 2011

    made the lemon poppy seed variation

  • yassoma on August 05, 2018

    Made the lemon poppy seed variation for my coworkers and they LOVED it. I want it higher next time, and for it to look it came from a bakery, so I might double the recipe.

  • omegabeth on June 16, 2019

    Made this in a 9x5 pyrex loaf pan; it needed foil at 40 minutes, and was done at 50. I also used about a half a cup of vanilla sugar in place of the same amount of white sugar. The butter flavor is very distinct; crumb is close and dense, and is perfect to use as a base for strawberry short cake.

  • ashallen on October 13, 2019

    Made the Lemon Poppy Seed version. Very good lemon flavor - one of the more lemony versions of lemon poppy seed cake I've made. I substituted bleached all purpose flour for the cake flour specified in the recipe and I think that negatively affected the texture - will try again with cake flour as specified.

  • anya_sf on December 16, 2019

    To me this is truly the perfect pound cake. My pan was 8.5"x4.5" so the cake was a bit short, but still rose beautifully. I didn't bother covering it with foil as I don't mind a browner top. The texture was perfectly soft and tender.

  • Knead2Quilt on October 23, 2024

    This is my first try with a Rose cake. It smells wonderful and tastes delicious. I need to get the right size pan as my loaf was a bit squat. I will make this one again and again! Such an easy recipe with such great results.

• Chocolate bread

  • JulieB50 on February 11, 2024

    I cut the bread into slices and individually wrap them for the freezer. They taste so good straight from the freezer cold!

• White spice pound cake

  • mfto on January 29, 2011

    Neither my husband or I liked this cake. The flavor was great but the consistency was not what we expect in a pound cake. It was more like a regular mix cake. However, I plan to use the flavorings in another pound cake recipe.

  • schambers on February 11, 2011

    8x4 pan will do fine. Spicing is more delicate than I expected; the cocoa is not noticeable.

  • anya_sf on January 24, 2023

    I love the flavor of this cake and have made it many times. This time I made 3/4 recipe in an 8.5"x4.5" pan (smallest I currently have); a smaller pan would have been better as the loaf was rather squat. Texture was soft and fine, like classic pound cake.

• Golden butter cream cake

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Note from author's website https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2020/1/1/corrections-amp-enhancements-the-cake-bible. The Golden Butter Cream Cake on page 34 has a better appearance if lowering the baking powder to 1-1/8 teaspoon instead of 1-1/4 teaspoon. It will prevent the slight dip in the center.

• Golden almond cake

  • purpleshiny on May 31, 2013

    Best almond cake I've made or had. I've done cupcakes and a wedding cake with this recipe - wonderful texture and wonderful almond flavor. Scales beautfully.

  • Zosia on April 26, 2014

    Rich and dense but very moist and flavourful. I made a pecan variation, substituting toasted pecans for the almonds (and omitting the almond extract), to pair with maple neoclassic buttercream.

  • mzgourmand on September 28, 2019

    Family favorite for birthday cakes and any happy occasion! The non-chocoalholics love having another cake option and it is absolutely delicious. We usually just serve it with creme fraiche and raspberries and call it a day.

  • Skamper on January 01, 2021

    This was delicious, both with unsweetened whipped cream and raspberries and on its own with a cup of coffee. I used Trader Joe's almond meal rather than toasting and grinding the almonds.

• All-occasion downy yellow butter cake

  • AmiableGrace on August 12, 2024

    This is now my go to cake batter. It’s moist and such a good flavor when baking for the discerning tastes of children.

• Country buttermilk cake

  • Lindacakes on July 17, 2011

    This is a superb cake, velvety in texture, not unlike a cheesecake. It is a bit dense and feels dry as you swallow it -- best if served with something wet like cream and/or fruit. Better the next day.

  • mamacrumbcake on July 11, 2015

    This is our family's first choice whenever a yellow butter cake is needed. It is delicious, soft, and tender. It is perfect for layer cakes, but is also wonderful plain, or with a little fruit and whipped cream. UPDATE June 2016: I recently made this cake with a different paddle on my mixer (the kind that scrapes the bowl while mixing). The texture of the cake was completely different this time--very fine grained and dense like pound cake. It was still an outstanding cake, just not as soft and light as it has been when mixed with a standard kitchenaid paddle. My guess is that the new paddle beats more vigorously and develops the gluten more. I've been making this cake for more than 25 years and it has never had a pound cake texture before. Either way, the cake was irresistible.

• Golden Grand Marnier cake

  • ashallen on August 29, 2019

    Very good cake that slices well but has a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Bittersweet chocolate and orange flavors work great together. Orange syrup's important for sweetness, flavor and moistness - don't skip. Using triple sec in place of Grand Marnier worked fine. Some tweaks for the next time... Used 60% bittersweet chocolate and it overpowered the orange flavors a bit - try a lower percentage. I cut my chocolate chunks a bit bigger than mini chips and they largely sank in the batter - cut smaller next time. Baked until 205F in center - would probably be better coming out at 195-200F. Used a heavy black 9-cup bundt pan and cake was done at 40-45 minutes vs. 55-65 minutes as specified in recipe - too fast! Cake top ridged up and outer crust was on the brown side. Will turn down oven 25F next time or use this as an excuse to get a new, non-black bundt pan!

  • anya_sf on February 17, 2021

    One of my favorite cakes. I've made it many times.

• Perfect all-American chocolate butter cake

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Note from author's website: https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2020/1/1/corrections-amp-enhancements-the-cake-bible. Change the unsalted butter to 1 cup/16 tablespoons (instead of 12 tablespoons). You also add 40 grams/3 tablespoons of canola oil for a moister cake.

• Triple layer devil's food cake

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    If baking this cake with 2-inch deep cake pans, see note on author's website https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2020/1/1/corrections-amp-enhancements-the-cake-bible

• Down-home chocolate mayonnaise cake

  • AllieTaylor on March 08, 2023

    Intense chocolate cake. Very much as described in the book. Easy to make. Didn’t have 8” tins so used 7.25” instead. Baked about 6 mins longer. Once baked and cooled, the layers are very FRIABLE! I put raspberry jam between the layers and icing sugar on top. Very nice. Will make again.

• Cordon Rose banana cake

  • panbiscotti29 on March 20, 2015

    One of the best cakes ever--made this at least 10 or 15 times when my boys were young, and for grownup cakes, too! I love it with sour-cream ganache, and with white-chocolate icing, too. I have always had to bake it longer than the recipe suggests, but I always test and never go strictly by what a recipe says, as I've had some touchy ovens.

  • Twistie on October 07, 2015

    One of my favorite cakes of all time. It's ridiculously easy to make, gloriously delicious, and always a hit with friends, family, and neighbors. I always pair it with the sour cream chocolate ganache. Why mess with perfection?

  • chawkins on December 20, 2015

    Great cake for my slightly over-ripe bananas, light and fluffy and easy to put together. had to bake it for the high end of time-range given. Paired very well with the sour cream ganache which I only made half of the recipe and was enough to cover the whole cake.

  • Dannausc on March 11, 2018

    Pretty decent. The lemon was an interesting twist.

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Note from author's website: https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2020/1/1/corrections-amp-enhancements-the-cake-bible. For those of you like me, who love the flavor butter gives, but also loves the moister texture of the banana cake in the new book Rose's Heavenly Cakes, we have worked out a perfect compromise: Use only 8 tablespoons/4 ounces/113 grams of butter and add 2 tablespoons/1 ounce/27 grams canola or safflower oil to the butter when mixing. The cake will also be about 1/8" higher than the original.

• Pumpkin-walnut ring

  • Smokeydoke on November 23, 2016

    A very lovely cake, moist and tasty. The pumpkin and walnut flavor shine through. Without the chocolate glaze, it is not sweet and can be served for breakfast. Old school. I liked it but there's better pumpkin cake recipes out there. Cake is smaller than it looks, only came up halfway on my bundt pan.

  • GraceandChad on March 21, 2021

    I made muffins with this recipe and they turned out perfect!! Beautifully puffed and even, with very little effort on the mixing end. Moist but light, not as dense as a regular quickbread. One batch makes exactly 12 perfectly-sized muffins. I didn't have walnut oil so subbed coconut oil and it worked great (although probably doesn't have the depth of flavor that a nut oil would contribute). I also folded in 1/2c chocolate chips at the end, and highly recommend. :) They'd make excellent, not-too-sweet cupcakes with some cream cheese frosting.

• Golden wheat carrot ring

  • Frogcake on February 28, 2017

    Not my favourite carrot cake. Mine turned out more like a pudding -was not fond of this texture and I don't believe I did anything wrong. Wouldn't make this again.

  • ashallen on May 04, 2022

    Very nice carrot cake, and definitely one of the easier cakes in this book. I loved the butter-honey flavor combination (I used clover honey) and the crumb was light, tender, and moist over several days of storage. Recipe calls for a fair amount of lemon juice but its flavor is very much in the background. Ditto for the whole wheat flour, though I did use mild white whole wheat. I measured all ingredients by weight and removed the cake from the oven once the center reached 195F. Crumb was a little bit too moist/gummy - maybe because I forgot to mix in the butter until after I'd mixed in all the other ingredients (oops), maybe because I used mostly unbleached vs. bleached cake flour, maybe because it really needed to bake until 200-210F which would have required a bit more baking time than called for in the recipe. Cake also stuck to my savarin mold and ended up looking pretty shaggy but that was probably the fault of my mold which has seen better days!

• Cordon Rose cream cheesecake

  • mirage on January 17, 2010

    The white chocolate cheesecake variation is very good.

• Chocolate oblivion torte

  • Frogcake on December 31, 2016

    OMG! This quite the decadent torte! So rich, and so easy to make! I appreciate the credit given to Bonnie Stern in her role developing the recipe. I wasn't so optimistic making this as I lacked some basic equipment in my kitchen away from home, including a whisk and springform pan. Despite some challenges, I can declare success. Would definitely make this again. I will serve this tonight with fresh berries, mint and lightly sweetened whipped cream to welcome the New Year.

  • Frogcake on December 31, 2016

    Note to self: I used Baker's premium dark chocolate, five slabs (70 percent cacao), which worked well.

• Hot fudge [sauce]

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Note from author's website: https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2020/1/1/corrections-amp-enhancements-the-cake-bible. Keep the "moderate boil" between 215°F/102°C and 220°F/104°C, using an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature. You can use either volume or weight to determine when it is reduced to two-thirds (6.7 ounces/190 grams). Weight is preferable as to check the volume it is necessary to pour the mixture into a glass measure and then back into the pot several times until it reaches the correct volume (2/3 cup). It will take 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size and material of the saucepan.

• Sour cream coffee cake

  • Dannausc on April 03, 2020

    I added 1 t. Cardamom to the streusel topping/filling mix. It was quite good but a little more involved than other coffee cake recipes I’ve made lately.

• Blueberry buttermilk pancakes

  • chawkins on June 23, 2012

    Light and tender. Excellent pancakes.

• Blueberry buckwheat pancakes

  • anya_sf on July 29, 2020

    Very tasty with maple syrup, and the lightest textured buckwheat pancakes I've had. The recipe makes a lot - my pancakes were larger (5-6"), so I put 8-10 berries on each, and I got 18 pancakes.

• Buttermilk waffles

  • schambers on February 11, 2011

    It seems like a lot of butter, but this makes the best non-yeast waffles. Extremely tender.

  • sarahgilbert on January 07, 2012

    I made them with whole wheat pastry flour and my kids loved them! It'll be my go-to recipe.

  • Alowishs on April 02, 2016

    I had to force myself to follow this recipe exactly and trust the author. No sugar in the ingredients? Can't be true. Luckily the syrup made up for lack of sugar in the waffles. But really, they were pretty tasty even without sugar. The author even explains why separating the yolk from the whites, then whipping the whites is unnecessary with waffles. Loving this book.

  • Smokeydoke on February 28, 2017

    Not a fan, this isn't what I think of when I want waffles. I like my waffles sturdier with a yeast-y flavor that can hold up to toppings. This waffle is soft and very eggy, like an Eggo (blech).

  • kitchen_chick on September 08, 2018

    Light tender texture and the rich butter flavor, which isn’t surprising given both the buttermilk and the huge amount if butter in the recipe. If you want a sturdier waffle, this is not the recipe for that. I think sugar doesn’t belong in pancakes and waffles. That’s what your toppings are for! And there’s a nice flavor balance when everything - waffles and toppings - isn’t sweet.

  • Cathyschuh on April 05, 2020

    I will not make again. Too buttery, too tendery limp like even when browned well in iron.

• Marion Cunningham's raised waffles

  • tunnymowg on April 15, 2011

    This is a great recipe and really easy to put together since you do more than half of it the night before. The texture is wonderfully light and the "yeasty" flavor is so nice!

• Swedish pancakes (Plättar)

  • et12 on October 25, 2020

    The batter was so thin it was hard to make small pancakes. Ended up making crepes.

• Chestnut Génoise

  • ashallen on July 29, 2019

    This turned out comically bad for me. The cake layers were simultaneously heavy, dry, and gritty. Recipe says you should be able to trim off cake layer tops and bottoms and still have a 1" of cake left - my layers were too short to even consider trimming. Since Rose Levy Beranbaum is so meticulous about testing and writing her recipes, I'm assuming something was very off with my technique - and/or maybe my chestnut flour wasn't finely ground enough.

• Génoise au chocolat

  • jenburkholder on December 28, 2023

    Very good basic chocolate genoise. Subbing in Cup4Cup works just fine as a GF version (used in making Black Forest Cake). When soaked generously with a liqueur syrup the texture is divine.

• Chocolate cloud roll

  • Zosia on February 07, 2019

    Souffle-like with an intense chocolate flavour. I filled it with dark chocolate mousse from Baking Chez Moi for a delicious dinner party dessert. The almonds are optional.

• Cocoa soufflé roll

  • Beebopalulu on January 25, 2020

    Beatifully light. Makes a great buche de noel, with the added benefit of being gluten free.

• Thin biscuit sponge base or roll cake

  • Zosia on December 26, 2019

    I made the chocolate version and filled it with white chocolate whipped cream. It was baked in 5.5 minutes in my oven. The edges were a little dry so I think a slightly lower temperature and longer baking time might work better. The edges softened once the cake was rolled with cream filling and the overall texture was light and spongey. It was good but I do wish it had a more intense chocolate flavour.

• Orange glow chiffon cake

  • Zosia on February 15, 2014

    Gorgeous cake! Perfect moist and airy texture and lovely orange flavour. A showstopper - it's very tall - that requires no extra embellishment.

  • mamacrumbcake on May 01, 2015

    Agree with Zosia--Love it!

• Lemon glow chiffon cake

  • mamacrumbcake on June 05, 2016

    This is simple but such an impressive cake--tall, moist, and beautiful. It is great plain (try toasting it too) and very nice with some whipped cream and fresh berries.

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Note from author's website: https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2020/1/1/corrections-amp-enhancements-the-cake-bible. Change the words baking powder to baking soda (as it is on the chart).

• Guilt-free chocolate chiffon cake

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Note from author's website: https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2020/1/1/corrections-amp-enhancements-the-cake-bible. Weight of the sugar is 350 grams (not ounces).

• Chocolate lover's angel food cake

  • hillsboroks on July 19, 2019

    Words can barely describe how luscious this cake is. Not only does it have a great chocolate flavor but it is the absolute lightest and moistest cake I have ever made. I took the advice on angel cakes from "The Science of Good Cooking" and substituted fine baking sugar for the granulated sugar called for. I served it with Boysenberry Curd from "The Berry Bible" and Apricot Ice Cream from "Chez Panisse Desserts." In nothing flat the cake plate was empty and people were licking their plates. This is most definitely a keeper cake.

  • Zosia on May 09, 2020

    This was a delicious way to use up my stash of frozen egg whites. The cake was very tall (it rose above the rim of the pan), had a very light, airy crumb and tasted of milk chocolate.

• Ethereal pear charlotte

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Note from author's website: https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2020/1/1/corrections-amp-enhancements-the-cake-bible. To ensure that all of the gelatin dissolves and offers a firm texture to the Bavarian filling, it is best to soften it in 4 teaspoons of the reserved poaching syrup. Stir to moisten the gelatin and allow it to sit for a minimum of 5 minutes. (If longer cover it tightly with plastic wrap to prevent evaporation.) After stirring the poaching liquid into the egg yolk, stir in the gelatin mixture.

• Swiss Black Forest cake (Schwarzwalder kirschtorte)

  • jenburkholder on December 28, 2023

    This has been our go-to Christmas dessert for years. After one of us went gluten-free, just switched over to using GF flour in the chocolate genoise and the result is virtually indistinguishable. We use Morello cherries (available seasonally at Aldi or Trader Joe's) - I've used sour cherries from the garden but the more tender canned texture of the Morellos is actually preferable as it's more "cuttable".

• Neoclassic buttercream

  • Zosia on April 26, 2014

    Made with egg yolks, this is a rich, creamy buttercream with a silky texture. I made the maple variation to pair with a pecan cake - delicious!

  • mamacrumbcake on June 05, 2016

    I just love a sure thing and this buttercream never fails. I have made the chocolate and mocha variations and they are delicious.

• Milk chocolate buttercream

  • purpleshiny on May 31, 2013

    Extremely easy recipe with great results. Must use best quality milk chocolate though.

  • ashallen on December 31, 2019

    This is a delicious and denser than average frosting. The author's description "...like eating a slightly softened bar of your favorite milk chocolate..." is spot-on.

  • TinyCitiKitchen on August 16, 2023

    A silky luscious frosting that will delight chocolate lovers

• Cornstarch-stabilized whipped cream

  • ashallen on September 19, 2019

    This came out quite thick and frosting-like - definitely less volume than typical whipped cream. It still had excellent whipped cream flavor, however. I used it for a cream pie but thought the texture would have been better suited to frosting a cake. It did a great job of staying stable on a covered pie in the refrigerator. I'm not sure I got the expected result, though - I used an organic powdered sugar that contains tapioca starch vs. the usual cornstarch found in most non-organic powdered sugars and tapioca's typically a much stronger thickener. It'll be good to try this recipe again with regular cornstarch-containing powdered sugar and see if that makes a difference in the consistency of the cream.

• Gelatin-stabilized whipped cream

  • hailey_p9ylhp on April 30, 2026

    Needs a little more sugar

• Fruit cloud cream

  • Beebopalulu on January 25, 2020

    Made with orange curd and used as buche de noel filling. Spectacular!

• Sour cream ganache

  • chawkins on December 20, 2015

    Could not be easier, just melt the chocolate in the microwave and fold in room temperature sour cram and in my case I use low-fat yogurt. Since I did not have enough yogurt nor chocolate to make a whole recipe, I halved it and had enough to cover the whole Cordon Rose banana cake.

• Light Italian meringue

  • Zosia on March 23, 2017

    This is my go-to recipe whenever a meringue topping is required. It's stable, easily piped and uses less sugar than most.

• Dacquoise

  • caitmcg on July 29, 2014

    A warning on this recipe: While the dacquoise itself is good, the instruction to bake it on a pan lined with ungreased foil is not. Mine stuck irretrievably; I was finally able to scrape it off in little bits, but it was not usable for the purpose for which I made it (as a layer in a larger cake).

• Lemon curd

  • deanasma on August 07, 2019

    Perfect Lemon curd and you'd expect nothing less from this author. The trick is to let it get to 196 F in a slow controlled way. The curd sets up entirely if you make sure it gets this hot. If you measure by weight as I do, err on this side of a bit more yolk and juice than too little.

• Lime curd

  • Zosia on April 17, 2015

    My go-to recipe. It has fabulous lime flavour without being too tart or sweet and a smooth, silky texture.

• Bitter Seville orange curd

  • ashallen on January 02, 2020

    This is an excellent orange curd recipe - thick, spreadable texture and tart, aromatic flavor. I used a mixture of juices from some unusually sour clementines, an unusually sour navel orange, and a small lemon - great way to use citrus I had planned to eat raw (except the lemon!) but found to be too tart. The curd was excellent with or without the orange zest - the zest did add more flavor complexity (and a few bitter notes to balance the sweetness). Leftovers froze well.

  • Beebopalulu on January 25, 2020

    Possibly the tastiest thing ever.

• Brandied Burgundy cherries

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Note from author's website: https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2020/1/1/corrections-amp-enhancements-the-cake-bible. Revisiting this recipe after 32 years, I now recommend using maximum 1/4 cup of sugar for the 1 cup (app. 6.5 ounces) of fresh dark cherries. The frozen cherries version above the fresh cherries is also for dark cherries and uses 1/2 cup sugar for 24 ounces and that is correct. The liqueur can be added in larger amount and contributes most to preserving.

• 3-tier chocolate butter wedding cake to serve 150

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Note from author's website: https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2020/1/1/corrections-amp-enhancements-the-cake-bible. For the 6 and 9-inch layers, change the butter to 2 cups/16 ounces/454 grams For the 12-inch layers, change the butter to 2-3/4 cups/18.6 ounces/530 grams This will give the cake more moistness. (Note: with either amount of butter, this cakes domes about a half an inch so will need to be leveled using a long serrated knife.)

• Base formula for [white] butter cakes

  • hshubin on May 03, 2014

    Made two 10" pans and frosted with dark chocolate ganache. The book didn't give an exact baking time for 10" pans and it got a bit dry before the center seemed set. Served 33+ people with "event-style" servings (larkcakeshop.com/CakeServeGuide2.pdf?) and everyone liked it.

• Whipped cream cake

  • Knead2Quilt on June 25, 2025

    This cake is easy to make and one of the most delicious cakes I’ve ever made. I highly recommend you give this one a try.

• Zucchini quick bread

  • lissabeebe on August 09, 2025

    Slightly different than the original book recipe: this loaf adds baking powder. Using the original recipe for zucchini cupcakes, I made a beautiful, tasty loaf. I will add the baking powder next time I try the loaf.