Just as Julia Child de-mystified French cookery, Rose Levy Berenbaum has made it possible for a cook who knows how to read and can competently operate kitchen equipment, to bake an absolutely splendid cake. Her new book Rose’s Heavenly Cakes is a must for anyone that has ever wanted to master the art of cake baking. It’s ten years since she stunned the baking world with her Cake Bible, and now she has presented us with a book that is as modern as the times demand, where the recipes have less of American buttercream frosting and sugary sweet richness. As Americans would say, this book is phenomenal.

 

In Portland Oregon last week at the Julia Child IACP Cookbook Awards, Rose’s Heavenly Cakes won the Supreme Award in a field of more than 500 books from all over the world. No surprise to me as this is possibly the best written, researched and presented book I have found on baking cakes. Rose uses three measures for each cake; by volume, weight by American standard and metric weight for her recipes. Her methods are so well documented they seem foolproof.

 

And as for the actual cakes, everyone looks totally mouth-watering. Butter, sponge, flourless, cheese, baby cakes and wedding cakes are covered along with extensive and comprehensive notes on rules of cake baking, techniques, ingredients and basic recipes. I can’t wait to make her apple caramel charlotte cake, the lemon meringue cake or some individual little pineapple upside-down cakes to impress my friends. And Rose’s Chocolate Raspberry Trifle will be on my Christmas menu this year for sure. This is one of the best baking books I have seen this decade. Available at Cook The Books.
 

Published by Wiley. $76.95