Most Helpful Customer Reviews
42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Introduction to Heatter, October 16, 2001
This review is from: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Hardcover)
I owned an older edition of this book and eagerly bought this newer one when it became available. Maida Heatter is one of those cookbook writers who is as enjoyable to read as to cook from. I consider this book the diametric opposite in style to Bevelyn Blair's cake book, which is also a great book. Whereas Blair's book is sleek and substantial with virtually no 'fat' in the writing, Mrs. Heatter has a story to write about each of her recipes. For those who only want the recipe, no brag, just fact, buy Blair's book. However, if like me, you enjoy learning some background on a recipe, this book is up your alley. Mrs. Heatter freely admits mistakes and trials leading to the recipes, and I suggest the buyer take those to heart. Like another reviewer, I've tried tweaking some of her recipes, to my regret. She has obviously worked long and hard on these recipes and has perfected these through trial and error. Many of the cake recipes in this book involve several steps, and can get quite complicated, especially for a novice cake baker. This is where Mrs. Heatter really shines. Her instructions are explicit and detailed. Few things are more frustrating than receiving a new recipe where the instructions leave the baker guessing steps. Not a problem with Mrs. Heatter! Though some of the instructions will be redundant to the experienced baker, I think it's much better to get too many instructions than too few! The English Madeira cake is a jewel, possibly the best all-around pound cake I've ever baked. Her 'best damn lemon cake' is awesome in its overwhelming lemon-y flavor, a golden jewel that's certain to fly off your serving plate. Mrs. Heatter also recommends having a stand mixer with two bowls and sets of beaters (she's a Sunbeam user). I'd recommend the same for these recipes--two bowls will cut down on the rather long preparation times. Also--use bread crumbs like she recommends rather than flour for pan prep. It really does work, and work well. In summary, this can be a great book for the novice cake baker wanting to learn technique, as well as the more experienced baker wanting to try new flavors. Her accessible and reader-friendly writing style completes a delightful book
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Dessert Book By Which Others Should Be Measured, December 16, 2002
This review is from: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Hardcover)
Stated simply, there are no better dessert cookbook writers than Maida Heatter. I have five of her bookbooks and from pleasant experience know that she has no bad recipes in any of her books. This one is no exception. If you can read English and own an oven, I'm not sure how you could possibly screw up one of these cakes. Ms. Heatter spends two to three pages on the simplest of cakes. She tells you where to place the rack in the oven, how many minutes to beat the sugar and butter together and what the batter will look like. For example, in the recipe for Cranberry Upside-Down Cake on page 201, she says: "The mixture might appear slightly curdled--it is okay." I'm happy to say I cooked this cake for the first time a few days ago. My friends thought it was wonderful. The best lemon cake I have ever baked and/or eaten has to be East 62nd Street Lemon Cake(page 22.)Over 20 years ago, when I had never melted chocolate in my life, I cooked a perfect Queen Mother's Cake (pp. 54-56.)The Robert Redford Cake(59-61)is a wonder to behold. Then there is the Oreo Cookie Cake, and on and on they go. There are sections on all kinds of cakes here: plain cakes, chocolate cakes, layer cakes, fancy cakes, cheesecakes, fruitcakes, cakes with fruits and vegetables, yeast cakes, sweet breads and more. And all kinds of tips-- even how to wash a pastry brush. There are no photographs in this book but who needs them? Your own cakes will be pretty enough to photograph. If you own other Heatter cookbooks, be forewarned; these recipes have been previously published in two of the author's earlier dessert books but here the cake recipes are all together. I must admit that I find the cheesecake recipes-- at least most of them, a little over the top. I suppose that's because cheesecake recipes have been anthologized to death and Ms. Heatter sought out the most exotic ones. And I, being a lazy cook, an unwilling to fool with baking a cheesecake in a pan of water. Having said that, if I could have only one dessert cookbook, it would have to be this one.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous -- easy to follow, with stunning results every time, July 29, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Hardcover)
I bought this on a whim, with no idea who the author was, or if the recipes were any good. But much to my surprise, the promises made on the cover and in the blurbs actually panned out into fantastic results. Maida has perfected every one of the recipes, so much so that even the slightest tweaking of them on my part usually ends up in less than perfect results. (A word of caution though; I find most of the cakes a touch on the sweet side, so bakers with a less-than-sweet tooth may want to reduce the sugar.) Nonetheless, it is a fabulous selection, a mind-boggling array of delicious cakes (more than 175!) whose recipes are so carefully crafted and lovingly detailed that they will work beautifully even in the hands of the most inexperienced novice. Instructions are crystal clear, and Maida never leaves room for any ambiguity to creep in and spoil a recipe. She doesn't always tell you WHY a particular step is performed (unlike Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Cake Bible"), but it always works. (If she did explain, I imagine the book would be twice as long, given how detailed her instructions already are!) As a book for learning the art of baking, I think it needs to be paired with something else as well to make up for the lack of explanation (Why a tube pan? Why the bottom third of the oven? Why 350 degrees here but not there?), but it is a rich resource indeed. The book has a number of typos, surprisingly, but they do not affect understanding of the recipes (thank goodness). There are, however, few concessions to health and diet -- the main thrust is delicious cake, but the enthusiatic reader can still find some healthy choices (like the marvellous Zucchini Loaf, butterless and low in cholestrol, yet marvellously moist and delicious). I haven't been able to make all the cakes yet, but I definitely intend to. A million thanks to Maida Heatter for this gem of a book -- you now have a fan for life in me!
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