• rionafaith on July 01, 2016

  This is one of my favorite and most-used cake books (of which I have quite a few). Gorgeous photos and clear, detailed instructions with a lot of unique flavor combinations. I've made a lot of the recipes in this over the years, and it's usually one of the first books I reach for when I have occasion to bake a layer cake.

• purpleshiny on May 31, 2013

  Very, very solid cookbook. I have many baking cookbooks, but bake over 3/4 of the cakes I make out of this one.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Almond-raspberry cake

  • rionafaith on September 22, 2016

    Delicious, and a beautiful presentation with the bright raspberry filling against the white cake layers and white frosting. Halved the recipe and baked in three 6" pans for a smaller cake.

• Chai cake with honey-ginger cream

  • Foodo on January 28, 2014

    http://foododelmundo.com/2010/04/19/sky-high-chai-cake/

  • rionafaith on September 22, 2016

    Halved the ingredients and baked in three 6" pans, which works for all the recipes in this book (that I've tried so far). Spices could probably be kicked up a notch.

  • rionafaith on October 11, 2016

    p. 152 -- Second time making this, this time for Eric's birthday, and I'm not sure why I bothered repeating this one as it's not one of the best in the book. The cake itself is great -- I doubled the amount of cinnamon and cardamom this time and I think it helped. But the frosting is really not my favorite (separate notes on that recipe), it didn't travel well (there was a slight cakealanche situation due to the sticky, gloopy frosting sliding all over despite chilling for several hours), and wasn't the prettiest. I also sprinkled some additional ground ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon on top (in about a 1:1:4 ratio) to help boost the flavors and decorate it a bit, which helped, but... meh. I would maybe make this cake again with a different frosting though, as the cake component itself is very tasty and a nice texture.

• Dulce de leche cake

  • PatriciaScarpin on April 11, 2011

    Absolutely amazing - my father's favorite birthday cake EVER. :)

  • purpleshiny on May 31, 2013

    I've attempted this cake 4 times and have had spectacular failures each time. I've done sponge cakes before - just can't get this one to work. It will rise nicely then crash hard. I've made a ton of other cake recipes from this book without issue - just can't get this one to work. On the other hand, love the frosting and filling.

• Dulce de leche cream

  • purpleshiny on May 31, 2013

    Tasty, but recommend ignoring the instructions to put the Dulce De Leche into cold cream - it will turn the milk caramel into a rock. Better to mix it into some warmer cream before incorporating with the cold cream.

• Ginger chiffon cake with Key Lime curd and lime buttercream

  • Foodo on January 28, 2014

    http://foododelmundo.com/2010/09/01/baptism-cake/

• Gingerbread beer cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting

  • rionafaith on September 22, 2016

    Very interesting ingredients list, but good flavor. Halved the ingredients and baked in three 6" pans, which works for all the recipes in this book (that I've tried so far).

• Honey-ginger cream

  • rionafaith on October 11, 2016

    p. 153 -- Faaaaar too sweet, and lacking any noticeable ginger flavor. It's also a strange gloopy texture that doesn't really work for a structurally sound layer cake. The first time I made this I added a fair bit of extra confectioner's sugar to try and bring it to a more usual frosting consistency, but of course that just made it more tooth-achingly sweet. This time I made as written, spread quite thinly between the layers, and it was just messy and sticky and ran all over... and was still too sweet. I won't make this frosting again.

• Key West cake with mango mousse and ginger-lime cream

  • Foodo on January 28, 2014

    http://foododelmundo.com/2009/07/31/peachy-keen-birthday-cake/

• Lemon buttercream frosting

  • purpleshiny on May 31, 2013

    Great buttercream recipe that takes two whole eggs. This is fabulous for when you are running low on eggs and can't spare 5-6 of them to make a Swiss Meringue buttercream. I have left out the lemon and done other flavors.

• Peach Melba cake with raspberry cream

  • rionafaith on September 22, 2016

    Made this for a friend's birthday about 6 years ago and she STILL talks about it.

• Sour cream-chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and chocolate-peanut butter glaze

  • Foodo on January 28, 2014

    Best chocolate cake ever! http://foododelmundo.com/2009/09/21/chocolate-peanut-butter-salute/

  • rionafaith on September 22, 2016

    This was a huge hit at a party a while back. Should probably make again!

• Triple chocolate fudge cake

  • rionafaith on September 22, 2016

    Excellent, ultra-chocolately layer cake. This is the one to make for all the chocolate lovers' birthdays.