Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: store this cake, cake saver, oven cannot accommodate, Cake Mix Doctor, Martha's Chocolate Icing, White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ann Byrn is on to something. Her first book, The Cake Mix Doctor, showed readers how to tweak store-bought cake mixes to produce "like-homemade" treats. The sequel, Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor repeats Byrn's foolproof approach, focusing solely on chocolate. The strategy? Begin with commercial mixes like chocolate cake, devil's food, and chocolate brownie; alter them with ingredients that add flavor, such as cocoa powder, or richness and moistness, like sour cream; use homemade frostings (supermarket versions won't cut it); and you're in business. "My mission," says Byrn, "is to help busy cooks find the time to bake even when company is not coming." If her sweets lack true homemade quality, they nonetheless produce entirely creditable desserts most bakers, and those they feed, will applaud.

Beginning with a blueprint for mix-doctoring success, which includes information on pantry essentials and a useful chocolate primer, the book then presents over 150 easy recipes for a full range of chocolate layer, pound, sheet, angel food, and chiffon cakes, as well as muffins, cookies, brownies, and more. Among these, readers will surely want to try Triple Decker Raspberry Chocolate Cake, White Chocolate Peach Cake, Frozen Chocolate Neapolitan Cake, and Jessica's Caramel Chocolate Brownies. Besides more basic finishes, the frosting chapter offers recipes for the likes of Crushed Peppermint Buttercream Frosting. An introductory section presents color photos of all the cakes; Byrn also supplies interesting technical information, lore (Nuggets of Chocolate History, for one), and a chocolate cake glossary all bakers can use. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly

Following her hugely successful baking book The Cake Mix Doctor, Byrn brings her winning formula of doctoring cake mixes to the world of chocolate. No other ingredient tantalizes and tempts the American consumer, who devours it to the tune of 2.8 billion pounds a year. Byrn marries cake mixes with chocolate in 150 easy recipes to create a personalized result. From layers to pound cakes and from sheet cakes to muffins, chocolate invades the senses. These are complemented by 38 frostings, fillings and glazes that intensify the flavors. Whether it's the rich Chocolate Apricot Cake topped with Martha's Chocolate Icing or the lighter than air Barbara's Chocolate Marble Angel Food Cake crowned with Shiny Chocolate Glaze, the recipes are easy and the results are fulfilling. Even the health conscious are looked after, with Good-for-You Chocolate Pound Cake, again with the Shiny Chocolate Glaze, which is so extraordinarily sinful that it's hard to believe it uses applesauce and egg substitute rather than oil and eggs. Throughout the book, useful hints and tips labeled "the Cake Mix Doctor says" are interspersed to give variations to the cakes as well as help and support. There are also larger additions, e.g., "If the cake sticks to the pan," that provide general aid. Despite focusing only on chocolate, this book tops even the original and should appeal to the busy cook, the first-time baker and the chocoholic. (Oct.)Forecast: Expect big sales. The Cake Mix Doctor has 784,000 copies in print, and with a 290,000 printing and 20-city author tour, the publisher fully expects to meet that number for this title.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; 1st Printing edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761122710
• ISBN-13: 978-0761122715
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,015 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #2 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Baking > Chocolate
  #20 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Baking > Cakes
  #47 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Baking > Desserts

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You gotta love it when cooking is this easy!, November 19, 2001

By	Stephanie Manley (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Now there are times when we can't prepare something from scratch, and this book is perfect for those times. By adding a few extra ingredients that are readily available in your pantry, you can turn somethin ordinary into something people will rave about, and beg you for the recipe. Meanwhile you have accomplished this with a boxed cake mix, and things you normally have in the pantry. I like this book more than the first book, as well it has one of the things that I enjoy the most.... Chocolate. This book is packed with all sorts of recipes for cake(Chocolate Sour Cream Cake), brownies (Kaluhua Cream Cheese Brownies), and many other tasty creations. The book is well written, easy to read and filled with serving suggestions and so much more. I would highly recommend this book to you if you are looking for something a little special.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Up Another Winner, October 31, 2001

By	"luvamoose67" (Carolina, RI United States) - See all my reviews

This is a terrific follow-up to The Cake Mix Doctor. This time around though, the recipes focus on a broader variety of desserts that can be made from chocolate cake and brownie mixes. Making a few simple substitutions and/or additions to a basic chocolate cake or brownie mix can give you a dessert that will silence most "cake mix doubters". No one will believe the Triple Decker Chocolate Raspberry Cake began with a mix!

This time, Chocolate From the Cake Mix Doctor adds more variety than just chocolate cakes with a larger number of brownies, muffins, bars and little cakes than seen in the previous book. As in her first CMD book, Byrn gives recipes for terrific scratch frostings which are what really set these cakes apart. There are clear tips and suggestions in a thoroughly updated first section and great ideas in neat boxes at nearly every recipe. My favorite thing about the book is the website that goes along with it, where bakers can ask questions about a recipe in the book and get reviews and suggestions from other bakers.

If you are a fan of chocolate, bake a lot or are looking for a way to make your chocolate cakes a bit less ordinary--this book will not disappoint you.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good if not better than the first!!, October 29, 2001

By A Customer

This book may not be appreciated by the from scratch purists but it definitely is the book for those short on time. Plus it's fun factor is off the charts!! Anne Byrn puts together another tasty collection, with fantastic pictures to boot, for bakers to drool over. Focusing on chocolate this time around she sticks with the succesful format of her first book and adds a questions and answer section based on questions that arose from her first succesful Cake Mix Doctor book. There is much more focus on decorating the cakes this time around but don't be alarmed---the decorating is as easy as putting the cake together. If you haven't discovered the Cake Mix Doctor yet then this is the time.
For those who are well familiar with the first book there are a few repeats which might be a disappointment but the myriad of new recipes should make up for it.