A classic layer cake has always been the best party pleaser, but this cookbook takes dessert to a whole new level. Sky High celebrates the triple-layer cake in all its glorious incarnations with more than 40 decadent and delicious recipes. The wide range of flavors will appeal to anyone with a sweet tooth. The book features such delights as Boston Cream Pie, Mile-High Devil's Food Cake, and Key West Cake. There are even three astonishingly beautiful (and totally do-able) wedding cakes! From luscious chocolate creations to drizzled caramel confections, take simple layer cakes to new heights with Sky High.
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About the Author
Alisa Huntsman graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and is the pastry chef at the Loveless Café in Nashville, Tennessee.
Peter Wynne is an author and newspaper journalist. He lives in Pennsylvania.
Tina Rupp is a New York-based photographer.
Peter Wynne is an author and newspaper journalist. He lives in Pennsylvania.
Tina Rupp is a New York-based photographer.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The tall layer cakes you see at the bakery always look so impressive sitting on a cake stand or plate and sliced with two layers of filling. Somehow the two-layer cakes I make don't quite stack up (pun intended). But most recipes for the home baker are written for two layer cakes.
This book has recipes to make those fabulously tall, triple-layer cakes. I wouldn't buy it as a first cake cookbook (Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Cake Bible" or Nick Malgieri's "Perfect Cakes" coes to mind as better beginning cake baking cookbooks), but this book does deserve a place on the shelf if you really enjoy baking cakes and want to make the kind of cakes that will inspire "oohs" and "ahs" when you bring them to the table. There is a great variety of recipes. The recipe categories are: chocolate cakes, vanilla cakes, fruit-flavored cakes; nut and spice cakes; cakes with a world of flavor (e.g. chai, dulce de leche, black forest, blue cornmeal), and finally holiday and special occasion cakes. The last chapter has recipes for three different kinds of wedding cakes that will serve 80-100 people if you feel adventurous and want to bake a wedding cake!
Each cake recipe is followed by the recipe for a frosting and often a different filling that go with it so you don't have to flip to a separate section of the book to find the frosting or filling that will suit the cake you have chosen. The frosting choices and the cake flavors sound amazing. She covers the expected combinations: chocolate cakes with toasted coconut-pecan frosting or different types of chocolate frosting; vanilla cakes with white chocolate, white chocolate buttercream or chocolate frosting; strawberry shortcake; boston cream pie. She pumps up standard cake flavors with more adventurous frosting or filling choices (chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and chocolate peanut butter glaze, cakes with mango mousse or peach mousse filling, apricot carrot cake; banana cake with praline filling and white chocolate ganache(!); marbled lemon blueberry butter cake. And then she pulls out the stops with cakes I can't wait to try: pina colada cake, maple walnut cake, dulce de leche cake, chocolate hazelnut cake.
The photography is fantastic, bordering on "food porn." There isn't a photo for every cake but more than half of the recipes do have photos and they will make you want to bake those cakes.
If you already do a lot of cake baking, you may be surprised (as I was) by the mixing technique. I was taught the creaming method where you first beat the butter then add the sugar and beat some more until it is fluffy, and finally add the flour and other dry ingredients alternately with the liquid ingredients. Most of the butter cake recipes in this book use the two-stage method where the butter, all the dry ingredients and some of the liquid go into the mixing bowl at the beginning and after this is beaten smooth, the eggs and remaining liquid goes in. I found this so unexpected that, after reading this technique in several of the recipes, I had to go back to the baking techniques section at the beginning of the book to find out why. The author believes "the two-stage method produces a more finely textured cake and is more dependable" than the creaming method. Now that fall is here and my kitchen isn't so hot, I'll be trying these recipes I've been drooling over and will see if I agree.
The trouble is, I've been poring over the pictures and recipes so long, I can't decide which cake to make first! My friends and family may be eating a lot of cake.
This book has recipes to make those fabulously tall, triple-layer cakes. I wouldn't buy it as a first cake cookbook (Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Cake Bible" or Nick Malgieri's "Perfect Cakes" coes to mind as better beginning cake baking cookbooks), but this book does deserve a place on the shelf if you really enjoy baking cakes and want to make the kind of cakes that will inspire "oohs" and "ahs" when you bring them to the table. There is a great variety of recipes. The recipe categories are: chocolate cakes, vanilla cakes, fruit-flavored cakes; nut and spice cakes; cakes with a world of flavor (e.g. chai, dulce de leche, black forest, blue cornmeal), and finally holiday and special occasion cakes. The last chapter has recipes for three different kinds of wedding cakes that will serve 80-100 people if you feel adventurous and want to bake a wedding cake!
Each cake recipe is followed by the recipe for a frosting and often a different filling that go with it so you don't have to flip to a separate section of the book to find the frosting or filling that will suit the cake you have chosen. The frosting choices and the cake flavors sound amazing. She covers the expected combinations: chocolate cakes with toasted coconut-pecan frosting or different types of chocolate frosting; vanilla cakes with white chocolate, white chocolate buttercream or chocolate frosting; strawberry shortcake; boston cream pie. She pumps up standard cake flavors with more adventurous frosting or filling choices (chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and chocolate peanut butter glaze, cakes with mango mousse or peach mousse filling, apricot carrot cake; banana cake with praline filling and white chocolate ganache(!); marbled lemon blueberry butter cake. And then she pulls out the stops with cakes I can't wait to try: pina colada cake, maple walnut cake, dulce de leche cake, chocolate hazelnut cake.
The photography is fantastic, bordering on "food porn." There isn't a photo for every cake but more than half of the recipes do have photos and they will make you want to bake those cakes.
If you already do a lot of cake baking, you may be surprised (as I was) by the mixing technique. I was taught the creaming method where you first beat the butter then add the sugar and beat some more until it is fluffy, and finally add the flour and other dry ingredients alternately with the liquid ingredients. Most of the butter cake recipes in this book use the two-stage method where the butter, all the dry ingredients and some of the liquid go into the mixing bowl at the beginning and after this is beaten smooth, the eggs and remaining liquid goes in. I found this so unexpected that, after reading this technique in several of the recipes, I had to go back to the baking techniques section at the beginning of the book to find out why. The author believes "the two-stage method produces a more finely textured cake and is more dependable" than the creaming method. Now that fall is here and my kitchen isn't so hot, I'll be trying these recipes I've been drooling over and will see if I agree.
The trouble is, I've been poring over the pictures and recipes so long, I can't decide which cake to make first! My friends and family may be eating a lot of cake.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have quite a library of cook books and this one has quickly become my favorite baking book. This book is not only visually beautiful, but the recipes are well written and easy to follow.
I certainly hope to see more books by Alisa Huntsman!
I certainly hope to see more books by Alisa Huntsman!
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a delightful reading experience! Sky High is well-written and a pleasure to read. Beautiful, full-page color photos accompany nearly every recipe, and the paper is sturdy and high-quality. The Baker's Notes throughout the book offer additional tips to ensure baking and frosting success.
The cakes are inventive and there were many new, delicious-sounding combinations that I am eager to try (such as chai cake with honey-ginger cream, Halloween sweet potato cake and chocolate-hazelnut gianduja cake).
Chapters include Baking Basics (a primer on ingredients and equipment), Chocolate Cakes, Vanilla Cakes, Fruit-Flavored Cakes, Nut and Spice Cakes, Cakes with a World Flavor, and Holiday and Special-Occasion Cakes.
The recipes are straightforward and easy to follow. An amateur baker armed with the chapter on baking basics and an attention to detail should be able to create any of these masterpieces (perhaps with the exception of the three wedding cakes which seem slightly challenging).
The cakes are inventive and there were many new, delicious-sounding combinations that I am eager to try (such as chai cake with honey-ginger cream, Halloween sweet potato cake and chocolate-hazelnut gianduja cake).
Chapters include Baking Basics (a primer on ingredients and equipment), Chocolate Cakes, Vanilla Cakes, Fruit-Flavored Cakes, Nut and Spice Cakes, Cakes with a World Flavor, and Holiday and Special-Occasion Cakes.
The recipes are straightforward and easy to follow. An amateur baker armed with the chapter on baking basics and an attention to detail should be able to create any of these masterpieces (perhaps with the exception of the three wedding cakes which seem slightly challenging).
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
ummmm
Can't wait to try and see how much fun to bake, and to share with others the joy of the palate!
Published 3 days ago by PorkChopBarbee
5.0 out of 5 stars
So many of these cakes have become go-to recipes
This book has become so much a part of my baking that I almost forget that before this book I didn't know what creme chantilly was and I'd never made a sponge cake. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Amy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well-Organized Cake Projects for Every Occasion
I've had this book for years, and used it extensively. The recipes I repeat most often are the chocolate peanut butter cake, and the orange grand marnier cake, but I've also made... Read more
Published 1 month ago by RiceV
5.0 out of 5 stars
Every recipe works, every time!
I love this book so much, I almost can't put it into words! Banana chocolate chip, vanilla buttermilk, Boston cream, lemon chiffon--I've done so many, and I can only say, WOW! Read more
Published 2 months ago by pie_panned
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is far away the best baking book ever!!!!
I ordered this book after making the Southern Coconut Cake recipe and I am so happy that I did. This book features some of the best recipes for baking cakes you will find. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Annisa Michelle Williams
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cook Book
book was new and good price - shipped quickly. I love the recipes and enjoy making "fancy" cakes for dinner club.
Published 4 months ago by Kari Watkins Tarulli
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great cake
Made the chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and chocolate peanut butter glaze. Fabulous. Can't wait to try another for Christmas.
Published 5 months ago by lowcountry
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book ever!
Stunning pics, clear instruction and plethora of usefull tips. Made already half of the recipes and all of them were just delicious! Read more
Published 8 months ago by Foody
5.0 out of 5 stars
Already a Family Tradition
This book is fabulous! I was expecting just another cookbook but was hooked when I read the first chapters on baking-- most concise, practical advice I've ever seen, and I've been... Read more
Published 11 months ago by dorcas cecil
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Baking Book I Have
I believe this book is worth every penny of the purchase price just to get the Mile High Devil's Food Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream recipe. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Purple Shiny
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