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, she presents beautifully decorated cakes that are all about the flavor. She begins the introduction with a story about a cake decorating book she was fascinated with as a child. Looking back at the book later in life, she realized all those cakes were made with cake mixes and artificial dyes. So, she set out to create an ultimate book about decorating cakes made from scratch that would teach readers how to achieve great-looking and great-tasting results. And, as always, her humor shines through on every page. Knowing that depending on the convenience of a cake mix is handy, she even includes recipes for making your own dry mixes that can be stored and used as needed. There are explanations for different types of mixing methods that result in different textures. The paste method involves mixing the dry ingredients with fats to form a paste before adding the wet ingredients, and the result is a tender, tightly-crumbed cake. The creaming method is more common in which fats and sugar are creamed before dry ingredients are added. This results in a more stable cake for layering. Last, the foam method is for cakes leavened by whipped eggs to make very airy cakes. The recipes include options for all these methods. There are then fillings, frostings, examples of combinations for incredible cakes, and tips and notes all along the way. Reading about the Salted Caramel Pastry Cream made me want to make it just to eat it from the bowl. Then, learning about Puppet Dust opened a door to decorating without piping frosting into swirls. It’s made from cake trimmings or crumbs or stuck bits from the pan, and it’s baked at a low temperature to dry the pieces before pureeing them into sand. The sand can be colored whatever shade is needed. In the book, cakes are simply frosted and chilled, strips of parchment are applied to the surface, and colored Puppet Dust is pressed into exposed areas of frosting to create a pattern. The Zebra Cake was made this way with pink stripes. There are so many show-stopping cakes and brilliant ideas. There’s a Swiss Roll Sponge with a pretty baked-in pattern of cherries on the stem that cover the outside, and that’s a technique I have to try too. And, the Apple Cider Cake has filled cream puffs layered inside the cake and adorning the top as well. There’s a lot to experiment with here. As I read the book, Kurt’s birthday was fast approaching. I suspected he would like the idea of a maple cake, and I liked the idea of trying the paste method of mixing. I think I had made a cake this way once before, but it had been ages. The recipe calls for maple sugar or maple syrup. Sadly, maple sugar is exorbitantly expensive here. I went with maple syrup. To start, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt were added to the mixing bowl. Room temperature butter was added and mixed until sandy. Eggs were added followed by the maple syrup, maple extract, and vanilla. Last, milk was added and incorporated. I baked the layers in eight-inch pans, and there are specific instructions in the book for prepping pans before baking. There’s also a tip about wrapping and freezing cake layers and filling and frosting directly from the freezer. Firm, frozen cake layers are easy to work with, and the cold temperature helps to set the filling and frosting as you work. I baked my cake layers a couple of days in advance and froze them before filling and frosting. What really drew me to the maple cake was the idea of topping it with Maple Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting. In the book, it’s suggested that Instant ClearJel be added to cream cheese frosting to make it set better. Since I wasn’t transporting this cake, I skipped it. Also, since the layers were frozen, the frosting set while being applied. It was a mix of confectioners’ sugar, butter, cream cheese, vanilla, maple extract, maple syrup, and espresso powder. I loved that the recipe made an ample amount to generously fill between layers and cover the outside well. I separated the frosting into two bowls and used one for the crumb coat and the other for the final coat.
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by Tessa Huff has you covered for every type of cake you could want to bake, and I received a review copy. These are all very pretty, polished cakes, and there are instructions for achieving each type of finishing touch shown throughout the book. But, don’t be intimidated by the professional look of these cakes. There are photos and instructions for piping, swirling, and smoothing frosting. There are also options for applying frosting and decorations in different ways, and you’re encouraged to mix and match flavors and toppings however you wish. Many of the cakes are constructed from six-inch layers, but there are some eight-inch cakes as well. They’re organized by category like Classic Cakes, Chocolate Cakes, Casual Cakes, Whimsical Cakes, Adventurous Cakes, and Holiday Cakes. The instructions give you a sense of ease about bringing these lovely creations to life, and you can always simplify the presentation or reduce components. There are several I wanted to bake right away like the Cookies and Cream Cake with chocolate layers and white chocolate-cream cheese frosting with crushed chocolate sandwich cookies, the Lemony Zucchini Cake with goat cheese frosting between layers and a lemon glaze drizzled on top, and the Oatmeal Cookie Cake with oatmeal cookie dough frosting as a filling. Some of the more intricate cakes include a Strawberry Confetti Cake with both strawberry and vanilla layers, strawberry cream, confetti buttercream, and homemade sprinkles; a Raspberry Stout Cake with raspberry cheesecake filling and raspberry chocolate bark on top; and a Pumpkin Vanilla Chai Cake with pumpkin ganache, pumpkin chai buttercream, and homemade spiced marshmallows on top. I want to try all of the techniques used, and I really want to taste all of these cakes. First, I chose something a little simpler. The Cinnamon Roll Cake sounded like a sweet tooth’s dream, and there was no need for a piping bag to frost this one. 
by Jocelyn Delk Adams right before my birthday. I had several new cakes to consider making. Both the book and Jocelyn’s food blog of the same name came about from memories of her grandmother’s made-from-scratch cakes and kitchen lessons. The cakes in the book include options for every level of baker from beginner to experienced, and each one comes with a story about the recipe’s origin. There are basic layer cakes, pound cakes, sheet cakes, baby or mini-size cakes, celebration cakes, and seasonal cakes for holidays. In the Pound Cake chapter, the Apricot Nectar Cake is a recreation of a recipe from the author’s aunt and sounds delicious with the nectar in both the cake and the glaze on top. The Peach-Raspberry Cake has a pretty ombre effect in frosting that changes hue as it moves down the layers. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is reinterpreted as cupcakes, and they’re decorated with dried pineapple slices that look like flowers. The Mango Swirl Carrot Cake with mango puree added to cream cheese that’s baked into the top of the cake is a carrot cake variation I need to try. A serious contender for my birthday cake was the Strawberry Sundae Cake with the alternating layers of vanilla cake and strawberry ice cream. But, in the end, I chose the Strawberry Coconut Cake with strawberry puree mixed into the vanilla cake layers and shredded coconut covering the cream cheese frosting. 
, there’s a Carrot Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting made with rice flour and oat flour that’s touted as being a better-than-ever and gluten-free take on a classic. Now, let me explain, neither of us has any sort of gluten sensitivity, but I do love experimenting with different types of flour to discover new tastes and textures. This carrot cake is completely gluten-free, but, more importantly for me, it’s completely delicious with a delicate crumb. It seems impossible since carrot cake is usually somewhat dense, but even with the walnuts this was a light and crumbly cake. 
, and as I’ve said before, every cookie in that book looks similarly devourable.
The cream cheese frosting is basic, straightforward, and as delicious as it always is. Once these were filled with frosting and finished, I realized this would be the first cookie I would prefer to eat from the refrigerator. This is interesting because Kurt is a cold cookie kind of guy. Even chocolate chip. He prefers them straight from the refrigerator, and I don’t understand it. For me, chocolate chip cookies are only worth eating directly from the oven. The refrigerator doesn’t even enter the picture. But here, cream cheese frosting necessitates refrigeration. I can tell you that these are by far my favorite cold cookie, and I have many, many extra calories to burn this week.
I made just a couple of alterations to the ingredient list. I used all butter rather than a combination of butter and shortening, and I used AP flour since I didn’t have any cake flour on hand. Then, for the frosting, I used natural maple syrup instead of maple extract. The flour and baking powder get sifted together three times. The sifting process along with the five eggs in the recipe, ensure an amazing texture for this cake. It was impossible for it to be anything but fantastic, and well, it was just that.
As Kurt and I tasted our first pieces of the cake, we both just nodded in agreement. Wow. It was a buttery, brown sugary, pecan-filled, just really, really good pound cake with cream cheese, maple frosting. Read this book if you get a chance, and try this brown sugar pound cake. I can very highly recommend both.