Rose Beranbaum's Cake Bible

I haven't tried everything in it and I was wondering, for those who have used her book, does she live up to all the praise? So far, the first few recipes are very high in fat (all that butter and cream!!) and I'm no longer sure if the book is worth buying. Some recommendations would be appreciated! Thanks!

Reply to
Cornofstarchy
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I bought the book when it was published. Ms. Beranbaum does not claim that it is a "diet" cake book. Her collection is the real thing in cakes. The "Pie and Pastry Bible" is also the real thing in pastry. I have enjoyed them both.

You might want to look for a different author.

Reply to
Ward Abbott

Cakes are an indulgence. All cakes are, or should be, high in fat and cream. On the other hand, to make them special, one shouldn't eat them every day. What one has too often stops being special.

I have had all three of her bibles and think that her recipes are, overall, more trouble than they are worth. She is obsessively fussy, and, while the results are good, you can get as good a results without being so nitpicky.

I suggest any book by Maida Heatter. Her recipes really, really work, they taste good, and the aren't nearly so fussy.

Mike

Reply to
Mike Avery

I have her book and the first thing I thought was well you can tell she's not from the South. Many of her recipes are lacking in sugar in my opinion.

Reply to
djs0302

Yup, that's the first thing to look for in a cake recipe - high in butter and cream. Within limits, the higher, the better. In fact, when doing a recipe search on the Internet I often pick my winner by finding that with the highest butter percentage.

RLB's book is just about the best general-purpose cake book you can find. For *specific* types of cakes (e.g. chocolate cakes, French or Austrian or Nationality X cakes, cupcakes, etc. there are better (more specialised) books but as a first source that gives you the basics it's really hard to go wrong. I recommend it highly.

Reply to
Alex Rast

I think the great advantage about home made, among others, is that you can skip the preservatives and adjust the sugar. Why also complain (other posters, I think) that she's too fussy? Or put another way: Why prefer information that's dumbed down?

I have all Ms. Birnbaum's books and I think she has a deservedly first rate reputation among her peers and duffers like me for what she does.

Reply to
LDR

You misrepresent my comments. What I said was, "I have had all three of her bibles and think that her recipes are, overall, more trouble than they are worth. She is obsessively fussy, and, while the results are good, you can get as good a results without being so nitpicky."

Many of her recipes are far too complex for the results. I've owned a bakery and had professional pastry chefs work for me. They look at her books with incredulity. You don't have to make it that hard to get good results.

There is a difference between "dumbed down" and excessively complex. Good instruction falls somewhere inbetween these extremes. It's not rocket science, we're not inventing a cure for cancer... it's just a cake.

Mike

Mike

Reply to
Mike Avery

How about an example of one of her recipes and one of your bakery's? Say, for something simple, like pound cake or something similar?

I'd certainly try both.

-- Larry

Reply to
pltrgyst

Amazing...I feel exactly the same way about making bread.

Or a loaf of bread, of course.

Boron

Reply to
Boron Elgar

Ms. Beranbaum is the first person to say she's anal in her obsession to test and explore recipes, which, by the way and very interestingly, bakers do not call recipes recipes--they call them formulas. (Actually, anal is my word, not hers, but she does say something like it.)

Your point is well taken for yourself, Mike, and maybe many others, but I like to swim in information and decide for myself what to keep. Let's say for argument and good will, that there are two extremes: Ms. Beranbaum's bibles and recipes printed on a Pillsbury bag.

Guess which way I would lean? :-)

Reply to
LDR

I have yet to make a "ROSE RECIPE" and someone inquire if it was a "box" mix. If taking the time to make something breathtaking....Rose's books are next to Julia in the pastry and cake category. Her formulas are exquisite and the Pineapple Upside Down Cake will make you fall to your knees.

Fussy...? Yes...and that is why we put a starched linen napkin next to the Baccarat crystal.

A guest is worth the effort....and just because we can.

Reply to
Ward Abbott

I have to agree , I too am a baker , and find I too can do things on average faster than the houswife cook. She lso takes pride in preparing so Thee ooks provide that instruction. as for me simple and run of the mill are my favorites still , and I can make about anythng with or without the book, the old standards are the choice of many, Steve

Reply to
S H

How about an example of one of her recipes and one of your bakery's? Say,

While I'd love to oblige, I'm a bread guy. My pastry chefs left when we closed the bakery and took their recipes with them. In any case, since we're at 7,703 feet above sea level, what works here probably wouldn't work where you are.

I'll repeat my earlier recommendation that ANY book by Maida Heatter is an excellent resource. She gets good results, and she explains how you can get them without losing your hair and your mind in the process.

Craig Claiborne, the long-time food critic for the New York Times and editor of their famous "New York Times Cookbook" related a story. One of her books had been written, and had gone through all the pre-press work and was ready to print. It was scheduled to print in a matter of days when her oven repairman came in and gave her oven it's annual checkover. (Do you have your oven checked annually? Neither do I. We should.) After checking it, he told her, "No real problems, but the thermostat was off 25 degrees. I re-calibrated it, and you're good to go!"

She immediately called her publisher and had the publisher stop printing until she could re-bake every recipe in the cookbook. She wanted to be SURE that the average reader could get the results that she got. Most of us would have said, "25 degrees? No big deal!" So, she IS careful, just not totally (as someone else said) anal.

I've tried many of her recipes and I've never been disappointed. Check libraries, isbn.nu or thrift stores near you. I'm not sure if they are still in print.

Mike

Reply to
Mike Avery

One thing I don't like about Biranbaums recipes is she makes it complicated to the experienced kitchen practitioners...Its likely what she had in mind when writing his books are amateurs... Unforunately she did not do it well....The complexity of his recipes intimidates baking enthusiasts ...in the same way she earns the scorn from the bakery professionals....by being too fussy..

She is not a baker by heart but a food professional working the recipes in her ivory tower. devoted to likeminded fellows...

When she wrote the bread bible and it appeared, When the opportunity to browse it in the bookstore came. I just flipped the pages quickly and it did not get me interested and dump it back to the shelf ,while I took time to read the contents of the Jeffrey Hamelmans piece...

Reply to
chembake

Why assume professionals set the gold standard? While the truly great professional bakeries/bakers leave me in awe, I can beat eight out of ten of the ones left over, and I think most serious amateurs can easily say the same. Most of the reasons that make a successful bakery has nothing to do with baking, and everything to do with business. So much for the "scorn of professional bakers," although I would like to know the source of Roy Basan's information. Like me, he's entitled to his opinion, but it should be expressed as one.

About excellence: You have to be a little crazy to be in Ms. Biranbaum's league. If you want a quick and dirty recipe that would be better than acceptable at any potluck dinner, picknic, etc., then God knows you can fine enough recipes to sink out of sight in, from the community organization Xerox published to the huge ocean of mediocrity "professionally" published.

Why in a group of amateur bakers--amateur meaning, to love--is there such disdain for authors like Ms. Biranbaum. I just don't understand it; when you bump into one of her books does someone hold a gun to your head making you read it?

Reply to
LDR

Reply to
Mike Avery

LDR wrote

Its just I don't like her writings as I think I can do it simpler than what she is doing besides you missed the fact that I am also a food professional- where I am adept with the craft and the technical side of baking.

I have been evaluating a lot of bakery related books and most of them are not to my liking..and that includes Biranbaums crappy stuff..! Look in comparison I am not a fan of Jeffrey Hamelman but his writings reflect the competence in his craft! I can't say the same to Rose.....

If you have a problem with that then try to LIVE WITH IT!

I tell you a lot of my former colleagues in my field did find her books not worth reading...! In fact A few of her books given free as a birthday gift to one of my friends were immediately sold to second hand bookstore as she has no use for it.! She has been doing bakery research in cakes and pastries for decades also and she finds Biranbaums books laughable ...!

She says that the way she understand baking from the point of food science and of chemistry is far simpler than what Rose try to apply to her recipes!

She scoffed at her works and told me that only people who hero worship her ( Ms Biranbaum)would love to read it and much more use it! She added .... The shortest distance between two points is a straight line then why would rose make it crooked..?

Biranbaums league,,,! Fussy people who can't find the essence of things from the clutter does not have a good following....IMO

First I am not a amateur...in this field...I have more than three decades of food processing experience, an a lot devoted to R&D.. formulation chemistry., ingredient interaction applied to bakery and confecionery products.

Nope...its my free will.....I just don't find her a worthy recipe book writer ......

Reply to
chembake

I'm a home baker who's been at it for a couple of decades. I buy most of my supplies (chocolate, all kinds of Pro mixes, pans and tools etc.) from a resturant supply here. I bake a lot less than I use to but I still do a fair amount for friends and some catering. And I just like to bake. Its like meditation for me. You name it, I probably baked it. I also have a huge collection of books on baking. At least 70+ Pro and amateur alike. And in different languages. Which is were my adult kids multilanguage skills pay off. (I'm lucky to get english right.) I like Rose,s book. It might be a little fussy for some but not a bad book. Everything I've done from it has come out excellent. And I think its worth purchasing. Its one of those books that I keep going back too. I just looked it up on Amazon and you can get for 12 bucks+a couple of bucks for shipping. For that kind of money you can't go wrong. Aloha David

Reply to
david Hume

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