The Cake Bible, 35th Anniversary Edition - by Rose Levy Beranbaum & Woody Wolston (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

One of Good Housekeeping's Best Cookbooks to Gift This Year

The legendary IACP Culinary Classic The Cake Bible--found in the kitchen of every serious baker and beloved for decades--with classic recipes thoroughly updated and including about 30% new recipes and methods and the latest ingredient and equipment information

The original Cake Bible is a guiding light in the world's baking literature, with Rose Levy Beranbaum's deep knowledge and respect for craft to be found on every page. It's for home and professional bakers who want to make glorious, technically perfect cakes and understand why the ingredients in cakes work the way they do.

The book was hugely influential from the moment it first came out in 1988, selling hundreds of thousands of copies and going through sixty printings. It introduced the reverse creaming method, incorporating flour and butter first instead of butter and sugar. This makes mixing faster and easier, helps cakes rise more evenly, and results in a finer and more tender cake texture. And it's among the first United States cookbooks to offer measurements in weights, highlighting the superiority of the metric system, which has become the gold standard in baking books.

But a lot has changed in thirty-five years--and The Cake Bible has changed with it! This striking new edition--with new color photographs of virtually every cake in an expanded center section--contains recipes for classic and innovative cakes and complementary adornments of all types, instructions for making stunning decorations, and flavor variations for every craving and occasion, with foundational recipes like All-Occasion Downy Yellow Butter Cake and Angel Food Cake and showstoppers like the Strawberry Maria, which brings together Génoise au Chocolat, Grand Marnier-flavored syrup, and Strawberry Cloud Cream. Rose also provides instructions for baking for special occasions, such as weddings, with recipes to serve 150 people as well as formulas to scale the recipes for any number of desired servings.

This new addition has: 150 additional pages, 30% more recipes, updated formatting, and even black and white photographs of Rose's kitchen.

For thirty-five years, Rose has been tweaking and reworking her methods based on reader feedback and constant conversations with other bakers and food and equipment professionals. Rose's fans, professional and amateur alike, will love this perfect distillation of her decades of experience and the pure joy of creation.

Review Quotes

"Cakes are a cornerstone of celebrations in America and this 704-page tome has a recipe for every occasion, from easy loaves and Bundts to jaw-dropping show stoppers, like multi-tiered wedding cakes. Plus, you'll find Beranbaum's expert advice on how to decorate them all." -- Good Housekeeping

"Anyone who writes their master's dissertation on whether sifting affects the quality of a yellow cake is obviously all-in when it comes to getting the details of baking exactly correct. And Rose Levy Beranbaum--award-winning pastry chef, blogger, and cookbook author--is that person." -- Better Homes & Gardens

"The Queen of Cake (and desserts in general), Rose Levy Beranbaum updates her classic on cakes with a thoroughly revised new addition incorporating new ingredients, new equipment, new methods and even new recipes." -- Parade

"Consider this book non-negotiable if you have any interest in becoming a better baker." -- Simply Recipes

"[Beranbaum] is practically baking royalty, and she's called 'the diva of desserts' for good reason... [The Cake Bible] contains everything that you'd want to know (and could know) about how to make a good cake." -- Tasting Table

"Owners of the original will want to read this new edition for its updates and additions, while novice bakers could not ask for a better introduction to the art and science of cake baking." -- Library Journal (starred review)

"Rose Levy Beranbaum's 1988 tome revolutionized baking for home cooks, and the revision is just as exciting." -- AARP Magazine

"If you geek out on the science of baking, you will be richly rewarded. And if you're new to baking, these recipes will guide you to success." -- Edible South Florida

"The new edition, like the old, is a brick of a book that contains all the encouragement and knowledge you'll need to tackle any cake." -- KCRW Good Food

"Master the holiday classic with this tried-and-true recipe from the grande dame of cake baking." -- Saveur

"This meticulous classic is back for its 35th anniversary, with new and fine-tuned recipes and updated techniques but the same authority, hallmark chart recipes and heft." -- Minnesota Star Tribune

"My satisfaction comes from knocking out a pan of buttery, treacly English Gingerbread and [Rose's] signature velvety-textured Lemon Poppyseed Pound Cake, carefully weighing each ingredient to the gram as directed, in one lazy afternoon, and receiving this concise verdict from my husband: 'Those cakes. Wow.'"
-- Atlanta Journal Constitution