[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: New Internationalist
Formats: Hardcover
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | Barnes & Noble[/alert]
Anna Weston has assembled a variety of cake recipes from around the world. Starting with the premise that “every culture has a cake” she has pulled together a volume that features new and interesting flavors that many bakers may not have used before. Many of the cakes in this volume go together in ways that differ from the standard scratch cake recipe, where the baker creams butter and sugar, adds some eggs and then flour goes in at the end. There is a particularly interesting cake from Malaysia, which starts with a stovetop caramel.
The drawback to this volume is primarily for American bakers. This book was published in Europe, so there are European terms throughout. American bakers who have not used European cookbooks before may need to look up a few terms. Also, many of these cakes are geared towards a more global palate, so American bakers may find many of these cakes lack in sweetness. The examples baked by this reviewer seemed more like coffee cake than a luscious dessert, although some of the other examples were more extravagant. If you know a home baker who wants to expand their repertoire, this might be a good way to go. Generally, this book is very limited with just cakes, and unless you’re baking a lot of cake there are other volumes that give you more for that precious space on your kitchen counter
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