The Cake Mix Doctor

Weekly Features Highlights: Virtual Cookbook Harvesting Vegetables Sassy Salsas Bushels of Beans Easy Snacks for Busy Kids Back to School Breakfasts - Quick and Easy Beating the Breakfast Rush Hour Lunch Smiles Ask The WebChef Freebies and Fun Stuff The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn Workman Publishing Company; ISBN: 0761117903 Review by TeAntae Turner In "The Cake Mix Doctor" cookbook, Mrs. Byrn sets out to show how anyone who can pre-heat an oven and crack a few eggs can make a cake that doesn't taste like it came out of a box, even though it did. With more than 150 recipes, covering every category of cake conceivable (as well as a few bars, cookies, and a gingerbread house), you can make a cake for any occasion. It starts off with a unique color picture gallery of each cake, its name and what page to find the recipe on. This is followed by a quick explanation of why anyone would want to use a cake mix instead of making a cake completely from scratch. Time, ease and reliability. Moving on to how to use the book, you are introduced to the typical ingredients one would add to help out a cake mix, what kitchen tools and pantry items you should have on hand, and how to get the cake out looking good. Sections are broken out in a variety of ways. One covers just chocolate cakes while another is on cakes that use spirits. You are also presented with a section on making your own toppings for cakes. These recipes are also designed to be easy and fast. Each recipe has a short "The Cake Doctor says..." tip. These typically cover ways to enhance a cake's flavor, a word to the wise, or how to make preparations faster. Also sprinkled throughout this book are "info-moments" (my word, not her's). These "info-moments" are placed within a specific section to give you even more ideas for baking, shipping, selling at bake sales, etc... Her categories are: Cake Mix 101, Chocolate Cakes, Cakes with Fruit, Strike It Rich Cakes, Cake-Mix Classics, Special Occasion Cakes, Cheesecakes and Gooey Cakes, Coffee Cakes, Cakes with Spirit, Incredible Bars and Comforting Cookies, This Can't Contain Cake Mix, Lighter Cakes, Just the Basics, Frostings- Glazes- and one Compote I am not a baker. I don't even pretend to be. My brother got the baking genes. He can whip up a delicious batch of cookies with a box of Bisquick and whatever he finds in the cupboards. So when I saw this title, I crossed my fingers and bought it. I probably have waited before trying my first attempt, a Cannoli Cake, as it required a little more skill than I had just yet. Timing the reduction just right, slicing two cakes in half, and icing a cake. Egads! That and I ended up not having the right size chocolate chips (too big) and not enough butter for the frosting (too sweet). It was interesting to say the least. Thankfully I wasn't discouraged. My next attempt was to be a hopefully more successful and simpler Lemon Buttermilk Poppy Seed Cake. With ingredients in hand, I set about cracking eggs, pouring in buttermilk and mixing it all up. Crossing fingers, I poured the batter into my bundt pan and popped it into the oven to bake. After a few minutes, the whole apartment smelled like a wonderful lemony bakery. I took the cake out of its pan, let it cool, and after painfully waiting, cut 2 slices. Let's just say that there were no crumbs left. The tips and other helpful information are well worth the read. Some though, would make a great appendix or given as tables in the front of the book. I've since put colored index tabs in my book to mark the really useful ones, like pan size conversions and tips for baking cookies. One feature of this cookbook I really like is the color photo listing of every recipe. I can scan through and pick out a cake that not only sounds tempting put looks tempting. I found all of her helpful hints just that, helpful. Another very thoughtful feature is in the back of the book. An entire page of conversion tables! These cover liquids (US, Imperial and metric), oven temperatures (Fahrenheit, Gas Mark and Celsius), weights (US/UK and Metric), and a few approximate equivalents for things like granulated sugar, egg yokes, honey and such. These are great for the European cook or those who cook by volume. Pros: Easy to follow recipes, helpful hints from "the Doctor" Cons: Not all recipes are designed with the novice cook in mind About the Author: TeAntae Turner is author of Cookbooks Reviewed, a biweekly newsletter. Each review covers not only recipes but layout, accuracy and other pertinent information that makes a cookbook worth keeping or throwing away. Mail this article to a friend (or yourself) You will be returned to this page after your mail has been sent. Your email address Your Name To email address