Customer Reviews

CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

There were a couple of recipes of Warren's in an issue of Cuisine at Home around the holidays a year or two ago. I have made those two cakes SO many times to amazing reviews that there was NO way I wasn't getting this book. It was well worth the wait (I ordered it last August when it was first announced.)

The recipes are quite simple, ingredients readily available and the fact that he gives "alcohol free" options makes it so much more useful. The Italian Buttercream frosting is one of my favorite things to make as it ALWAYS turns out. He reminds us that cakes need not be complicated and hard to make. With a few skills that are easy to master, you can turn out the most amazing baked creations.

This book and The Cake Book by Tish Boyle are really all you need for an amazing array of easy to difficult cakes for any occasion...as if you need an occasion for cake ;-)

I love this book. I own almost every cake book out there- and this one is refreshing and fantastic. It offers new ideas/ingredients to cake baking. Warren's delightful personality really comes through in the text- just as it does on the FoodNetwork.

When you order this book, order 60% chocolate bittersweet pistoles (or see below) and potato starch because he calls for them in his recipes.

Chocolate Pistoles (pg 217): 10 ounces chocolate = 1 cup chocolate pistoles

You may be familiar with Warren Brown from reruns of his show Sugar Rush on the Food Network, or perhaps if you're lucky enough to reside in D.C. you might have had the pleasure of sampling some of his creations and original recipes at one of his highly regarded CakeLove bakeries. For those of us living outside of personal shopping distance you're in luck as Warren has recently released a gorgeous cookbook dedicated to the art of making some of his most popular CakeLove recipes.

I don't use the term "art" loosely. These cake are involved masterpieces. Don't be lulled into complacency by the brightly colored layout and upbeat color schemes. The pages of this book may be designed to imply simplicity and ease but in reality this cookbook is more boot camp than day camp. These recipes mean business and attention to detail is key.

Fortunately, Brown gives you all of the tools to succeed including very detailed recipe instructions, step-by-step images when appropriate, and helpful tips and tricks. But in the end it's all up to you. Thanks to jaw dropping photography and tantalizing recipe options like Stout Pound Cake with Roasted Pecans, Tres Leches Butter Cake, and Hazelnut Spice Sponge Cake your body will no doubt go into pure craving mode, and the ambition to taste one of these fanciful creations will give you all the motivation you'll need to power through the recipe.

After examining the cookbook I decided to attempt the decidedly Summer appropriate Mojito Pound Cake. To answer your burning question, yes, it really does taste like a Mojito! Actually it tastes like a great Mojito, not one of those ghastly drinks you get from a hurried bartender because they think you're a jerk for ordering one in the middle of a rush, but a carefully made, simple syrup, and mint muddled Mojito that makes you sit back and say, "Ahhhhh..."

In all seriousness though, I can't believe I made this cake and I definitely couldn't have done it without this amazingly thorough text. There's nothing semi-homemade about these recipes. They're all butter, flour, cream, and eggs through and through. Sure they take a little more time and effort but the quality and taste of a cake made from scratch isn't even in the same league as your basic boxed Betty Crocker.

I first heard about Warren years and years ago one time on Oprah. She did a show about people who changed career paths - weren't afraid to take risks. He had been a lawyer or accountant or something, and yet in his spare time he made cakes and his friends were always telling him how great they were and how he should make them for sale. Realising this was his passion, he opened up his own store in Washington DC and the rest is history. I'm so glad this book is finally out.

He starts out by listing 10 things you can buy to be a better baker (scales, sifter etc) and talks about how the ingrediants are so important (butter makes better tasting cakes rather than a substitute). He talks about how he likes cakes with heaps of butter, sugar, eggs and flour and doesn't feel guilty about eating them (but he mentions he exercises and does the eating in moderation). From there he goes on with Pound Cakes, Butter Cakes, Foam Cakes and the frostings and fillings that come with them etc.

It's a beautiful book (big) and the photos are stunning. My favourite has to be the picture of the Chocolate Sponge Cake on page 129. That picture alone would make me buy this book regardless of anything else.

I really love this and can't wait to get started on making some of these delicious looking cakes soon.

The Cakelove story and unsual flavors combos are intriguing. I used the Pecan Crunch Buttercream recipe (sans crushed pecans) as the filling for my daughter's wedding cake in May (150 guests) and heard nothing but raves! So I was anxious to try some of the cake recipes. I'm sorry to say, "they've been much less satisfying than the buttercream."

The cake texture of the three recipes I've tried has been disappointing (Yellow Butter Cake, Mr. Banana Legs and Mojito Pound Cake which doesn't live up to its flavor billing in my opinion). After following each recipe carefully, the result each time was the same... dense, gooey cakes that didn't brown well or seem to have enough leavening.

Checking my oven temp and upping the temperature ten degrees didn't help. Even when the cakes seem to rise well during baking, once they cooled, the consistency was like a fallen cake. I've baked for over thirty years and frankly never encountered this problem three times in a row. I guess there's just something about the ingredient balance in these recipes that's not working for me. I've hesitated to alter the recipes but have wondered more than once if baking powder was simply forgotten in the ingredient list and if adding a teaspoon wouldn't solve the problem.

I love it when a successful cook, baker or chef shares his/her secrets with any and everyone. This proves they are confident in their product and abilities and aren't in the least bit threatened by others. Kudos to Mr. Brown.

Ever since Warren Brown starred in 'Sugar Rush' on The FoodNetwork and announced on his website he would be writing a book, I have waited for this book to come out. This is a really good book. I love the way the author has laid out the chapters and recipes. I have tried a few of his techniques (using potato starch and using extra yolk(s) in pound cakes) and they work just as well as he says in the book. I used to think Swiss meringue was my favorite for buttercream; not anymore. Thanks to Warren I now only use Italian buttercream. The step by step pictures were helpful and easy to follow and I love the versatility; I am able to change vanilla buttercream to any flavor profile I desire.

I think professional pastry chefs and home bakers will find this book a helpful resource in the kitchen.

I've made three recipes so far from this book and plan to make them all. They are unique, wonderful, and my family devours them. Next best thing to living close to one of Warren Brown's bakeries!