Waterstones Delia's Cakes

Author: KM

Rating: 5

Review: This book is excellent, it's so good that I originally bought it as a present for my mother in law, had a quick flick through it and decided it was a keeper and another book must be bought for my in-laws to ever have a chance of seeing this book. What drew me to the book initially is simply the variety of cake recipes I wanted to make from leafing through it (I have added a full recipe list below to help see if it has similar appeal for you). Add to that each recipe has a wonderful image, a brief sentence introduction from Delia about the recipe, and a well laid out method; it's everything I want for in a recipe book. I have uploaded a couple of images to this product page to try and give you an idea of the general format and layout of the recipe pages and a couple of the introductory sections. The recipes are split into nine logical sections, and I am thankful for Delia's contents page at the front which lists every recipe within. Further to recipes there are also some sections at the front of the book with some fairly self-explanatory headings: Introduction The Tyranny of Tins Baking Equipment Cake Tin Liners Other Equipment Storing Cakes A Few Pointers Using the Right Ingredients Other Ingredients Gluten-free Cakes & Biscuits Egg-free Cakes & Biscuits The Deliaonline Cookery School Even if you're an experienced baker it's worth referencing these sections (for example I wasn't aware that you can use spreadable butter straight from the fridge for cakes instead of block butter that you've had to wait to come up to room temperature). The Deliaonline cookery school is just a paragraph about the launch of her online cookery school to coincide with the release of this book. The recipes I have tried from the book have all turned out great, my mother in law was quite surprised! We made her the `old fashioned cherry cake', which is a favourite of hers, when we gave her the book. Both went down very well and Delia's tip re poking a third of the cherries in the top of the cake just before going into the oven meant for the first time I had an even spread of cherries in my cake. All in all I really can't fault this book, and it was not one I would've bought for myself but on merit of how great the recipes looked (and thankfully are in practice!), I can only give it 5 stars. Recipe list: Introduction The Tyranny of Tins Baking Equipment Cake Tin Liners Other Equipment Storing Cakes A Few Pointers Using the Right Ingredients Other Ingredients Gluten-free Cakes & Biscuits Egg-free Cakes & Biscuits The Deliaonline Cookery School Sponge Cakes Classic Sponge Cake Swiss Roll Coffee & Walnut Sponge Cake Iced Lemon Curd Layer Cake Maple & Caramelised Pecan Cake Fresh Lime & Coconut Cake Iced English Walnut Cake Coffee & Cardamom Cake with Pistachios Fresh Orange & Passion Fruit Cake Strawberries & Cream Sponge Cake Loaf Cakes Very Fruity Irish Tea Cake Banana & Walnut Loaf Marmalade Cake Dark Jamaican Gingerbread Sticky Toffee Loaf Cake with Fudge Icing Caraway Seed Cake Madeira Cake Apricot, Apple & Pecan Loaf Family Cakes Family Cake Iced Honey & Spice Cake Old-fashioned Cherry Cake Chunky Apple Cake Flapjacks Traditional Oatmeal Parkin Damp Gingerbread Preserved Ginger Cake Traditional Dundee Cake Sticky Prune & Date Cake Double Lemon Drizzle Cake with Poppy Seeds Little Cakes Chocolate `Surprise' Cup Cakes Orange Curd Butterfly Cakes Winners' Cup Cakes Iced Hidden Strawberry Cup Cakes Welsh Cakes Rich Fruit Scones Plain Scones Viennese Tartlets Good Old Rock Cakes Spiced Date & Sesame Crunchies Eccles Cakes Apricot Oat Slices Muffins Apricot Crumble Muffins Iced Lemon & Poppy Seed Muffins Chunky Marmalade Muffins Blueberry & Pecan Muffin Cake Spiced Apple Muffins Rhubarb & Orange Muffins Damson (or Plum) & Cinnamon Muffins Fresh Gooseberry & Elderflower Muffins Spiced Cranberry Muffins with Frosted Cranberries Biscuits Gingernuts Semolina Shortbreads Oat & Raisin Cookies Almond Tuiles Chocolate Orange Biscuits Chocolate Chip Cookies Florentines Grasmere Ginger Shortbreads Macaroons Crystallised Ginger Oat Biscuits Garibaldi Biscuits Peanut Butter Biscuits Almond Biscotti Whole Oat Crunchies Gingerbread Men Chocolate Cakes Chocolate Fruit & Nut Refrigerator Cake Sachertorte Chocolate Beer Cake Grated Chocolate & Almond Cake Moist Chocolate & Rum Squares Brazil Nut Brownies Chocolate Marbled Energy Bars Celebration Cakes The Ultimate Carrot Cake Squidgy Chocolate Cake Classic Christmas Cake Last-minute Mincemeat Christmas Cake Creole Christmas Cake Light Christmas Cake Easter Simnel Cake Almond Icing (Marzipan) Sugared Flowers Fondant Icing Silver Angel Icing Golden Apricot & Pecan Topping Dessert Cakes Venetian Zabaglione Cake Chocolate Souffle Cake with Armagnac Prunes & Creme Fraiche Sauce Apricot Hazelnut Meringue Cake Pear & Almond Cake with Streusel Topping Hazelnut Shortbreads with Raspberries Lemon Griestorte Spiced Apple & Cider Cake Baked Vanilla Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce Specialist Suppliers

Author: catweazel96

Rating: 2

Review: I did not have the original "Book of Cakes" (1977) upon which this new book is based. I was excited to get my hands on the new edition after seeing Delia Smith on TV promoting it. My initial response is that I was really disappointed at the style of photography she has chosen to use in her book to illustrate each recipe. I understand it is a popular style for food photography these days: grainy, arty, strong use of depth-of-field and background fading. But for me, the style of photography used here is terrible, giving a murky, dull impression which makes the cakes look old and stale. For example the Apricot Hazelnut Meringue Cake (page 212) looks grey, grainy, almost cement/mortar-like. Even worse is the Sticky Prune and Date Cake (page 87), which actually gives the impression that the cake is burnt. And the Iced Lemon Curd Layer Cake (page 35) is so inaccurate to the actual colour of an iced lemon curd cake (of which I have made a few) that it is actually hard to tell it's a lemon cake. I just wonder who proofed the book before it went to the printers and why the go-ahead was given when there are clearly issues with the photography and lighting? The "Contents" break down as follows: Sponge cakes; Loaf cakes; Family cakes; Little cakes; muffins; biscuits; chocolate cakes; celebration cakes; dessert cakes. There is now a very savvy link up between Delia Smith and bakeware manufacturer "Silverwood", creating a small cake tin range that fits exactly her recipes and will (she says) last a lifetime. If you are a new baker starting out and wanting to invest, this is a great idea. There is also the newly launched DeliaOnline Cookery where Delia will be online to answer questions via live webchats. Recipe tried: I made the Apricot Crumble Muffins yesterday. Downside: The ingredients list is centred in a bit of a muddle on the page with -sometimes- 3 or 4 ingredients on the one line, each ingredient separated by a small icon. This makes the list hard to read. Also, the text for the ingredients list is coloured a pale green, a poor colour choice as it is too pale on the page. The recipe itself is written in a slightly convoluted way, as if several voices were competing on the content. Upside: The end result was fairly good - a nice, light, well risen muffin with a spicy crumble topping. One last comment: I expected that it would not have been too much trouble, with the teams at her disposal, for Delia to provide a short nutrition analysis, or even a one-line calorie label for each recipe. I think this would have been of interest to a lot of her readers and it's a shame this has not been included. In general, a very disappointing book.