CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch [Hardcover]

Warren Brown (Author), Renee Comet (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2008

Warren Brown wants you to bake your cake and eat it too. And he wants you to conquer your fear of flour and learn to love every step of cake baking—including, of course, the step in which you present your made-from-scratch masterpiece to bedazzled, hungry-eyed family and friends. (Not to mention the moment when you yourself get to sample a slice of that lovingly crafted creation.)

For Brown, love and baking are inseparable. After all, he abandoned an unrewarding career in law to do the work—baking cakes!—that he finds truly emotionally satisfying. Every page of CakeLove communicates that satisfaction, as well as Brown’s can-do approach to the art of baking. As he asserts, baking cakes isn’t a cakewalk, but it’s not rocket science, either—and getting it right isn’t nearly as hard as you think.

Pound cakes, butter cakes, sponge cakes, cupcakes. Glazes, frostings, fillings, meringues. Brown provides all the basics on ingredients, equipment, and techniques, as well as recipes for more than 50 cakes that range from the classic (Chocolate Butter Cake) to the adventurous (“Sassy,” a pound cake made with mango puree and cayenne pepper). The informative step-by-step shots make you want to run to the kitchen and start baking, and the scrumptious color photos of completed cakes look good enough to sink your teeth into.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Brown takes the intimidation factor out of baking with easy-to-follow recipes while entertaining with his upbeat and casual writing style. The former lawyer and bakery owner, fulfills the promise to take readers on a tour of how and why I bake cakes, weaving his personal journey that led to sugar and flour as the tools of his career. Chapters include those featuring types of cake (pound, butter, foam), as well as sections on frostings and glazes, fillings, meringues and cake assembly. The fun and informal recipes, such as Sassy, and Mr. Banana Legs, consist of clear, numbered steps and are accompanied by informative headnotes. Full-color photos illustrate step-by-step techniques and showcase the cakes that are chockfull of appeal with their less-than-perfect appearance and convey the author's philosophy that baking shouldn't be an uptight endeavor; as long as a cake is homemade, it deserves respect. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Warren Brown has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, and a J.D. and master’s degree from The George Washington University. After establishing a career in health education and law, he realized his calling was in the kitchen and starting baking. In 2002 he opened his bakery, CakeLove, and LoveCafe followed in 2003. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Reneé Comet is a noted photographer who specializes in food and still-life photography. A cook herself, Comet has a particular passion for cookbooks and has photographed more than 30, including The Artful Pie and The Joy of Cooking. She is also a regular contributor to Vegetarian Times, Food Arts, and The Washington Post.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584796626
• ISBN-13: 978-1584796626
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm In Love with Cake Love Cakes- It was Love at First Bite!, May 1, 2008

By 

A. L. W. "sweetbaker" (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch (Hardcover)

I first became aware of Warren on the Food Network when they did a special that featured his store, Cake Love years ago. That was followed up by two seasons of Sugar Rush, which sadly didn't feature his own recipes but the creative works of other chefs around the country. He mentioned doing a cookbook on his website about a year and a half ago and asked for suggestions. I quickly submitted some ideas along with other readers and I was glad to see that they are present in the book. I have been waiting for over a year and a half for this book to come out so I immediately baked a cake the day it arrived and it was very lovely. I really enjoyed the texture and flavor! I'm looking forward to making several of the other recipes.

Warren approaches cake baking with a few different ingredients that are part of each basic cake recipe and a slightly different philosophy than your average cookbook. Warren provides information on alterations for baking at high altitudes , not only the ingredient quantity, but cooking times as well. He also gives a few notes on baking in high humidity. He also gives information on different baking temperatures based on having a conventional or convection oven. Warren advises that one should sift the flour into a bowl that is on the scale to avoid dry heavy cakes if you can. This is different from the 3 main approaches, which are dip and sweep, fill the measuring cup spoon by spoon, or simply weighting the ingredients with a scale w/o sifting first. If you don't have a scale he also offers the dry ingredients in cups, but advises the use of a scale due to what his experiments showed was the best measuring method. This and many other crucial steps are in his introduction as well as in the directions, so you must take time to read through his notes for a successful cake.

Warren really takes you by the hand in this book and tries to school you in his personal philosophy of cake baking. He shows you several photos on the creaming stages, how to ice a cake, how to make curd as well as great photos of many of the cakes. Even more pictures can be found at his website.

The way he lays out the recipes is also very helpful in making sure you have a successful guide. For example ingredients are lined up according to whether they are dry, liquid, or part of the creaming or foam steps. I've not had the experience of seeing a cookbook do this and it's helpful.

He is also the first cookbook author to my knowledge to offer alcohol free variations of his cakes. This is fabulous for those who want to avoid the alcohol present in vanilla extract and other alcohol based ingredients. Many people are unaware that even small amounts of alcohol are an issue for a variety of reasons for some people. I commend him for that effort. Many folks just omit that alcoholic ingredient but his changes make sure you are still getting the flavor intended.

Perhaps the strange thing in this book is that, in order to start his recipes you do need to have, extra fine sugar, and potato starch (not corn starch) on hand, which you can order inexpensively (the potato starch) or buy in the ethnic sections of some markets. He explains why he advocates the use of extra fine sugar in the book. Some recipes also call for vanilla powder. The recipe offerings in general are really nice, some are rather unique.

I like that he advises unbleached flour and occasionally goes for unrefined sugars. Everyone isn't ready for whole grain baking although it's the best option, some small changes like this are better than most books which call for bleached flours. He also advocates the use of fair trade chocolate as well. Warren really tries to address a variety of issues in his book that are challenges for some people, such as going toward not using artificial ingredients for sufferers of multiple chemical sensitivity problems.

Overall, this book takes a lot of effort to school you in his way of doing things and he explains scientifically why his ideas work. He tells you right off the bat "this is a tour of how and why I bake cakes from scratch." He really takes you by the hand with photos and explanations to make this different style easier for you. It might be a little different than what is common to most people, but it produces a really nice cake. This is his style, it works for him, it has made his store successful, thus garnering nation wide attention and so it's worth a try. You can continue in following the philosophy of other bakers that have given you success as well as trying his, you just may find that Warren's method is one that you really enjoy.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Sassy" alone would be worth the price of the book, June 21, 2008

By 

Mariana Chaffee "always reading" (Kirkland, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch (Hardcover)

I've been waiting for months for this book to come out. I enjoyed reading it (I read cookbooks for fun -- I need a life), and when my youngest son graduated from university, I decided to make the "Sassy" cake to celebrate. Mostly when I make a cake -- and I make a good cake -- everyone enjoys a great big piece of it, and the rest of the cake waits around for a week or so. That's when the whole, big family is here. I made "Sassy" and there were only three of us home, and it was gone the next day. My son thought it was from a bakery (which he thought was a compliment.) Anyway, that is the only cake I've made from this book so far, and it was splendid. That one recipe would have been worth the price of the book, but there are more, more, more -- I can't wait.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bake a Cake Love cake at home, May 5, 2008

By 

R. Zimmerman "you never know" (east coast usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch (Hardcover)

I saw Cake Love on local television around Valentine's day and ended up getting a Cake Love cake about a month later - it was amazing! The book arrived last week, I baked the Mojito cake last night and iced it tonight and both the cake and the icing (Italian Meringue Buttercream) are fabulous. The instructions and pictures were extraordinarily clear - an excellent road map to an excellent cake!