Subscribe to Read
Sign up today to enjoy a complimentary trial and begin exploring the world of books! You have the freedom to cancel at your convenience.
All About Cake: A Milk Bar Cookbook
Title | All About Cake: A Milk Bar Cookbook |
Writer | |
Date | 2025-06-10 10:17:14 |
Type | |
Link | Listen Read |
Desciption
Welcome to the sugar-fueled, manically creative cake universe of Christina Tosi. It’s a universe of ooey-gooey banana-chocolate-peanut butter cakes you make in a crockpot, of layer cakes that taste like Key lime pie, and the most baller birthday cake ever. From her home kitchen to the creations of her beloved Milk Bar, All About Cake covers everything: two-minute microwave mug cakes, buttery Bundts and pounds, her famous cake truffles and, of course, her signature naked layer cakes filled with pops of flavors and textures. But more than just a collection of Christina’s greatest-hits recipes (c’mon, like that’s not enough?) this book will be your guide for how to dream up and make cakes of any flavor you can think of, whether you’re a kitchen rookie or a full-fledged baking hardbody. Read more
Review
I've been baking from her book for a while now, and got through about a third of the recipes. There are some real stunning winners in this book, and actually I was surprised to find a few clunkers as well.The book is separated into different styles of cakes (i.e. Cake Truffles, bundt and loaf cakes, crock pot and mug cakes, double-layer cakes, and her well-known triple layer cakes.I haven't baked any of the truffles or crock pot/mug cakes because they don't appeal right now and if I can't freeze them and then bring them into work I probably won't make them. I live alone....I'm not going to eat a whole cake by myself. :) I have focused mainly on bundt, loafs, and double/triple layer cakes.My absolute favorites were the Key Lime Pie cake. Oh lord, that one is good. Sour Cream frosting, a buttery graham crumble, lime curd and graham sponge. I love my curd, so I always *double* the curd recipes by Tosi. And actually because I find her method too "involved" (i.e. using a blender, straining, etc), I usually do my curds in a one-pot over a water bath. Put all the ingredients together....whisk over a hot bain marie.....7-8 minutes later you have a curd (unless you double the recipe, in which case it'll take longer).My second favorite cake was the Corn and Blueberry cake. Again, the sour cream frosting was lovely, and it paired well with the barely cooked blueberry compote & sponge. When I made the sour cream frosting, i found I could sit down on a couch and eat the whole bowl with nothing else.... It's that good!I made the chocolate and yellow cake frosting double layer. It was good, and I liked the yellow cake crumble. The same goes for the German Chocolate Layer cake. I found that one, however, to be *really* rich. All the components are delicious and I decreased the coconut I added to the coconut crack layer by 30%. The milk chocolate frosting in the german chocolate cake is bonkers crazy good. The German Chocolate cake calls for Feuilletine to be mixed into the Pecan Crumble. I forgot to order it online from Amazon, so I made my OWN! I followed Stella Park's (Bravetart) online recipe. The key to her recipe, though? set up 3-4 pans with silicon mats (not parchment!!!), and when you finally mix, it spread them all out IMMEDIATELY very thin...paper thin....on all the pans. If you let it sit, it congeals and you won't be able to spread it and it'll be too thick. Trust me. Making your own Feuilletine is quite easy, but you need to work fast. See attached pic of my feuilletine. It's perfect and delicious and crunchy. Anyway! Got side-tracked there....Her Pineapple Upside Down cake was equally as delicious, and very tropical. I first poached the pineapple (in dried thai peppers, a white sauvignon, cardamom, etc), and I must say that for two hours the smell of the pineapple poaching was absolutely disgusting. truly. gag-worthy. All I could think to myself was, "wow, this is going to taste awful". I put the pineapple and poaching liquid in the fridge to marinate & chill overnight, and when I tasted it the next day it was MAGICAL. Seriously, a truly fantastic flavor. And when you whip the rest of the frosting with pureed poached pineapple and then fold in chunks of pineapple, it becomes a wonderful dessert. Tip for poaching pineapple.....get one of those large turkey oven baking bags, and a very large turkey pot with lid. Put the pineapple laying down in there in the liquid, and cleanup will be a breeze!When it comes to making her layer cakes, you can convert her recipes to 8" cakes, by doubling the sponge recipe, and doubling most of the ingredients. Sometimes her frosting (because she doesn't always have you make enough), you have to multiple by 2.5. Because her cakes can be crumbly & messy, I usually cut them directly out of the freezer when they're solid. I have a really viciously sharp Japanese knife and it goes through it with just a little bit of muscle, but i find I get cleaner lines when I cut it when frozen, and let them sit out at room temp. Oh, and also, make the middle layer the one that's cobbled together with scraps! Make the bottom and top layers the whole complete cake cutouts.I made the Cherry Cola Bundt Cake, and I must say it wasn't that good. It looks and sounds fantastic, but it was just meh....kind of bitter? She redeemed herself with the Raspberry Bundt cake (which had the pulp of Red Grapefruit throughout). Her Compost Pound cake as good, but I found it to be dry. Perhaps I overbaked it? And I have to say my least favorite cake was her Dulce De Leche cake. Totally one-note. Very boring. for Thanksgiving last year, I ruined a Yuzu curd tart I had made, so I had her Dulce De Leche in my freezer, so I served that. I got courtesy compliments. It's not great. I saw someone online transform it by adding coconut, and I think the cake could use some sort of offset to lift it a bit. It needs something sharp.Anyway...another stellar book by Ms. Tosi. By the way, one of my pictures is of her Strawberry Shortcake Cake, which is not in the book here. But it's on the Milkbarstore website under the Recipes section (at least it is as of today). I highly recommend that one. It's phenomenal, if only for the Sweet Cream frosting. If any of you have made any other items from the book that you would recommend I make next, I would appreciate a comment! Thanks!UPDATE (12/20/20) - I finally got around to making Tosi's Pumpkin Pie Cake. As indicated in other reviews, I decreased her salt from 1TB to 1tsp. It was a delicious cake. The cheesecake layer was also delicious, as was the white chocolate pumpkin ganache. All put together, though? It was a bit one-note just like the Dulce de leche. It's a tasty cake, though. I'm not a fan of pumpkin in general, so I would probably need to eat it with a good hot cup of coffee. That being said, my neighbor (who I gave a piece to last night) was RAVING about this cake. So, I guess it's just about personal preference.UPDATE (5-26-2021) I got around to making her Rhubarb Elderflower Pound Cake, as well as her Mint Chocolate chip Cake. See two pictures attached. I have never tasted elderflower, and generally try to stay away from anything of a floral scent, but this flavor was magnificent. Mixed with the rhubarb, I loved the combination, and I actually doubled the recipe to make extra jam for myself. The pound cake was good too, but it's all about the rhubarb elderflower "goo". The Mint Chocolate chip cake was good as well. The chocolate chip sponge is excellent. Truly excellent. I made a mistake on the mint cheesecake! I added the extract and coloring *before* it baked, which made it smell a bit "off". I should have made the cheesecake and then afterwards added the extract and coloring! The "frosting" for the Mint CC cake was interesting. Sort of like edible play doh. Tasted very good, but such a weird texture. All in all, I really liked both of these cakes. Two thumbs up!