I actually think I am going to return the book. I hope Barnes and Noble takes returns.
AI don't worry with that baking powder thing. I multiply by the rose factor thing by the base formula for the cakes. I have successfully baked up to 12" in all her recipes. It takes a bit of time but stick with it. Baking is a science after all
AThe book was an invaluable resource to me. I have two copies. It might be far too technical for some though
That is pretty insulting. Surprising to find that here. Lots of people on amazon say the same thing. I guess that we are all simpletons. What she is saying isn't making sense. Can you interpret for me, since I must have an addled brain??
""For example, let's say you want to make a two-tier yellow cake consisting of an 8 inch tier and a 12 inch tier. ...To make the batter for the 8 inch layers, multiply each ingredient in the base formula by Rose factor 3.5."
So my mind is thinking that a recipe for an 8 inch cake would give me enough batter to make at least two 8 inch layers. So if I multiply by 3.5, I would have enough batter to make 7 pans. (see, I can do math!)
Is my thinking wrong in that her recipe is only enough for one 8 inch layer?? Anyone able to help who doesn't need to insult me first?
Nancy
AWoah. What is insulting about what I said? I just said to stick with it...with the technical thing I was only responding to you basically saying you didn't like it. Knowing that that's a complaint of the book, it's technical gas it's not very user friendly. I didn't call you an idiot or anything.
You are right that her recipe is enough for 8" and you'll only get 2 short layers out of it. I have built my business on the cake bible, and am very familiar with how it works and using the rose factor. But I'll let you get help from someone who isn't insulting you.
AYour reaction is just wow. I'm reading over and over what I said trying to find out what I said wrong.
I'm sorry, perhaps it was that it was a short reply about "far too technical." I like technical. That is why I bought it, but technical has to be correct. I am trying one of her cakes right now. We'll see how it goes.
OK, so if you get two short layers out of her recipe and you multiply it by 3.5, how does that add up to a tier of 8 inch cake? Three layers? Four? I'm still confused.
AYou don't use the rose factor and multiply by the recipe in the front of the book. If you go to the back of the book there is a base formula for the yellow, white, and chocolate cake.
You take the rose factor for the size cake you want and multiply that by the base formula. Use that same rose factor and multiply by the baking powder amounts in a chart at the bottom of the page.
There something where she talks about dissolving baking powder in water...skip that nonsense.
Once you've multiplied the rose factor by the base recipe you'll have recipes for all sizes of cake pans
So after reading on here about the revisions to the Cake Bible, is it better to get "Rose's Heavenly Cakes" instead then? (USA version). It also looks like she has a few recipes on her website (probably to wet the appetites of people like me who haven't bought her book yet).
AI know the cake bible has been updated...not sure about the heavenly cakes one. I never got around to it. Hmm.
I know the cake bible has been updated...not sure about the heavenly cakes one. I never got around to it. Hmm.
Ah okay, I thought it was maybe that the Heavenly Cake one was an updated version with the corrections. I'm not sure which one to get, but the Heavenly one has a recipe for banana cake according to her website. Mmmm, bananas. I think I'll try to make one from her site and then decide if it's worth getting the books.
Also, her website says she uses eggs in her buttercream, is that a regular BC with added eggs or just a version of one of the MBCs? I already use Sweetapolita's SMBC and love it. Oh wait, it uses egg yolks, so I'm guessing that's a French type?
Edit: added the egg yolk part
AYou know...it might be the heavenly cakes one lol. Not sure. Yes it's a French bc that I honestly don't care for lol. I use her basic cakes and purées and stuff. I haven't been fond of her icings.
There's a silk meringue something or the other that one may be with egg whites??.....? I'm not sure lol
AJust finished trimming the layers on the yellow cake she recommends readers bake to test their oven temps. The cake looked good when I took it out of the oven, except that the layers baked up to the top and over. Had to trim the sides off, actually crumble them off. It is dry. Interesting, because when I tested it at 25 minutes, it was gooey inside, and then at 30 minutes - dry. When touting,it is just crumbling all over.
I wouldn't make this cake for a customer, however, the flavor is fabulous! My husband and I will enjoy this dry, flavorful cake!
I also wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a new recipe for clients. I followed the recipe exactly, and got these results. And I don't quit easily - it took me several times to figure out SMBC and I would use nothing else now. It's just that if the recipe is so temperamental that it goes from gooey to over-baked in 5 minutes, it's probably not reliable for many people.
I will try the others, though! Nancy
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Hi,
I just bought this, and have to say I am totally flummoxed with the modifications section. I don't know the editor, but wouldn't hire him/her for a book I was writing!! The talks about the factors 3 and factor 8, and then says to multiply all the ingredients by 3 for an 8" cake??? And then there is the baking powder factor. What the heck?? None of it makes any sense at all, and I read it about ten times, and am an English teacher, so supposedly, I can read.
Can anyone recommend a good source for changing any of the recipes most commonly shared here for, say, a 14 inch tier? Thanks,
Nancy
Ignore all of that and just multiply the recipe X number of times based on the diameters of the tiers. So if 1X the recipe makes two 8-inch layers, that would be about 50 square inches of batter per pan. A 14" pan would be about 154 square inches per pan, so you'd need about three times the original recipe. As long as you use flower nails or a baking core or something to distribute the heat evenly it should work. If it doesn't you can adjust the leaveners or whatever you want to do, but I do it this way and have never had a problem.
Quote:
Just finished trimming the layers on the yellow cake she recommends readers bake to test their oven temps. The cake looked good when I took it out of the oven, except that the layers baked up to the top and over. Had to trim the sides off, actually crumble them off. It is dry. Interesting, because when I tested it at 25 minutes, it was gooey inside, and then at 30 minutes - dry. When touting,it is just crumbling all over.
I wouldn't make this cake for a customer, however, the flavor is fabulous! My husband and I will enjoy this dry, flavorful cake!
I also wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a new recipe for clients. I followed the recipe exactly, and got these results. And I don't quit easily - it took me several times to figure out SMBC and I would use nothing else now. It's just that if the recipe is so temperamental that it goes from gooey to over-baked in 5 minutes, it's probably not reliable for many people.
I will try the others, though!
Nancy
Is this the downy yellow cake? We were talking about that on another thread, and I was saying that I had to modify it to the point of it not being the same recipe at all to get it to not be dry.
AI don't understand it....I love that cake it's never been dry to me. That's very weird. I'm sorry you didn't like it. My clients and I love it!
Quote:
I don't understand it....I love that cake it's never been dry to me. That's very weird. I'm sorry you didn't like it. My clients and I love it!
it's funny that it works well for you, you must have a magic touch with that recipe. I don't remember how it started out but I remember that I changed about ten things on it bit by bit to get it where I wanted it.
AYes! The downy cake! And thanks for the instructions, costume czar!
Morgan, do you live in a damp climate? Maybe that helps with the cake. I just tried to crumb coat it, and was laughing my butt off, it was coming off with every touch of the spatula. It's now in the freezer, hope that helps.
So glad I tried this for myself first. This is why I would never try a new recipe for a friend or anyone in the public. I made quite the mess of this.
AI guess LOL. It's one of those things like I wish I could make you guys really like it! Maybe it's the humidity where I live? Off oven temp? IDK.
Nancy, even though you don't like the cake..I would recommend keeping the book. It's a great baking textbook all the same and you can apply what you've learned to other things!
AReady for a smooth crumb coat! do you think Rose would like pictures???
Bwaaaaaaaaaa!
[IMG ALT=""]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3207624/width/350/height/700[/IMG]
AI actually like all of the info in it, so I am keeping it!
Thanks for your help, ladies! Nancy
Oh wow, that looks beautiful!
The flavor of it was good, it's just the texture that I didn't care for, but like I said, that was a loooong time ago, so I don't remember why. I can barely remember last week, let alone 15 years ago.
ALol! I relate about the memory.
I may be headed for cake wrecks, but it is really delicious! Actually, I got a decent crumb coat on it, but since it crumbled, the top has a lower side on one edge. Would you share how I can fix that? You know what I mean? It's like the edge of the table fell off, but underneath it is still round.
AI couldn't trim it anymore, i used frosting as glue!
Not as bad as i thought, but my husband said, "This is dryer than the state of Texas!" And it really was!
[IMG ALT=""]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3207656/width/350/height/700[/IMG]
Well, it's close to a Cake Wreck! Morgan, you must have mad baking skills to get this moist!
Nancy
I guess lol!! This cake is literally my most popular. Very intriguing. The cake looks delicious!
AJust wondering if climate really does have something to do with the dryness? Morgan you are from Texas, no? It is always one humid mess here in N E Texas where I live, so it would kind of make sense.
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