Cake Magic!: Mix & Match Your Way to 100 Amazing Combinations

314 Pages·2016·44.73 MB·English

by  Caroline Wright

Cake Magic!
MIX & MATCH
YOUR WAY TO 100 AMAZING COMBINATIONS
CAROLINE WRIGHT
WORKMAN PUBLISHING ★ NEW YORK
DEDICATION
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For Henry, whose fifth word was “cake.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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Many thanks to my husband, Garth, for lending his seemingly endless supply of
time, energy, and taste buds to this project. A very special thanks, too, to Katie
Wilson for her diligent recipe testing.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
CHAPTER 1
VANILLA CAKES
Confetti Cake Sweet Cream Cake Cookies + Cream Cake
Blackberry Buttermilk Cake Horchata + Caramel Cake Vanilla,
Cherry + Chocolate Cake Caramel Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Creamy Caramel Cake Buttered Rum Cake with Chocolate
Frosting Boozy Berry Cake Classic Birthday Cake Spicy
Cinnamon Cake with Apples White Russian Cake Vanilla–Olive
Oil Cake with Rosemary + Lemon Peaches + Cream Cake
CHAPTER 2
CHOCOLATE CAKES
Best Blackout Cake Warm Chocolate Gingerbread Cake Candy
Bar Cake Chocolate Cake with Tea + Lemon Grasshopper Cake
Drunken Tuxedo Cake Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake Dark
Chocolate Cake with Basil + Caramel Chocolate-Orange Cake
with Caramel Frosting Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake Hostess Cake
Chocolate + Red Wine Cake Soda Fountain Cake Spicy Hot
Chocolate Cake Chocolate + Pear Cake
CHAPTER 3
CITRUS CAKES
Summer Lemon Cake Blueberry Lemon-Ricotta Cake Arnold
Palmer Cake Orange + Cardamom Cake with Honey Frosting
Strawberry-Lemon Cake Lemon Pucker Cake High Tea Cake
Spiced Grapefruit + Cream Cake Triple Citrus Cake Lemon-
Ginger Cake with Chocolate Frosting Hot Toddy's Lemon Cake
Basil + Lemon Cream Cake
CHAPTER 4
BROWN SUGAR CAKES
Southern Diner Cake Cookie-Butter Cake Chocolate Chip Cookie
Cake Maple, Bacon + Chocolate Cake S'mores Cake Honey-
Walnut Cake with Ginger Syrup Root Beer Float Cake Rum
Raisin Cake Cinnamon-Sugar Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Butterscotch Cake Pecan Bun Cake Maple Vanilla Brunch Cake
Browned Butter Cake Toffee Cake Tea with Cream + Sugar
Cake
CHAPTER 5
FRUIT + VEGGIE CAKES
Carrot + Coconut Cake Banana-Maple Cake + Malted Vanilla
Frosting Fall Harvest Cake Apple Cider Cake Pumpkin-
Chocolate Cake Zucchini-Thyme Cake with Lemon Pudding
Frosting Pumpkin-Ginger Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Fresh Blueberry Cake Pear Cake with Chocolate Frosting Chai-
Pear Cake with Honey Frosting Caramel Apple Cake Banana-
Caramel Cake with Malted Milk Chocolate Frosting Carrot-Lime
Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
CHAPTER 6
NUTTY CAKES
School Lunch Cake Peanut Butter Pretzel Cake with Salted
Caramel Frosting Peanut Butter Cup Cake Elvis Cake Apricot,
Cashew + Cardamom Cake with Honey Frosting Dinner Party
Cake Almond Cake with Cinnamon + Honey Almond Joy Cake
Pistachio + Lemon Cake Spiced Almond Cake with Cream
Cheese Frosting
CHAPTER 7
COCONUT CAKES
Coconut Cake with Strawberry Frosting Coconut-Caramel Cake
with Malted Chocolate Frosting Coconut–White Chocolate Cake
Dream Cake Coconut + Chocolate Cake Coconut, Ginger + Rum
Cake Mango-Coconut Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting
Coconut + Raspberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Italian
Cream Cake Coconut Cloud Cake
CHAPTER 8
MOCHA CAKES
Mocha Raspberry Cake Mocha Caramel Cake Double-Shot
Mocha Cake Orange Mocha Cake + Cream Cheese Frosting
Mulberry Street Cake Irish Coffee Cake New Orleans Café au
Lait Cake Tiramisu Cake Spiced Coffee + Cream Cake Malted
Chocolate Stout Cake
CHAPTER 9
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
How to Assemble a Cake Magic! Cake The Cakes The Syrups
Frosting + Decorating
CHAPTER 10
THE RECIPES
THE CAKES
Cake Magic! Cake Mix Gluten-Free Cake Magic! Cake Mix
Vanilla Cake Darkest Chocolate Cake Lemon Cake Brown
Sugar Cake Apple Cake Peanut Butter Cake Coconut Cake
Mocha Cake
THE SYRUPS
Vanilla Syrup Sweet Cream Syrup Mixed Berry Syrup Rum
Syrup Cola Syrup Fresh Rosemary Syrup Spiced Syrup Tea
Syrup Lime Syrup Coconut Syrup Bacon Syrup
THE FROSTINGS
Nutella Frosting Malted Vanilla Frosting Cream Cheese Frosting
Salted Caramel Frosting Bittersweet Chocolate Frosting Lemon
Pudding Frosting Honey Frosting Malted Milk Chocolate Frosting
Strawberry Frosting
THE EXTRA-SOMETHINGS
Caramelized Strawberry Jam Salted Caramel Honey Caramel
Lemon Pudding Sautéed Apples Caramelized Bananas
Toasted Coconut Toasted Marshmallows Walnuts in Syrup
Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze Graham Cracker Crumble
Cinnamon Sugar Basil Sugar Homemade Vanilla Extract
CONVERSION TABLES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INTRODUCTION
My friends will tell you that I am among the sneakiest of
cake bakers. Months before a pal’s birthday, I will
surreptitiously ply him or her with questions (and often
wine) to suss out his or her favorite cake. Later, on the
big day, I’ll smuggle a freshly baked cake into a crowded
bar, tuck one under my arm on the subway, or leave one
on a doorstep—whatever it takes to deliver a surprise gift
to a wide-eyed friend who only vaguely recalls our
conversation from six months earlier.
My sleuthing is born of the belief that there’s magic in baking someone a
My sleuthing is born of the belief that there’s magic in baking someone a
perfect cake, doubly so if it’s a new favorite, made even better with an
unexpected twist. It is that magic—and the joy of giving a gift in cake form—
that I hope to share with you in this book.
What you’ll find in these pages are simple, dependable, fun recipes for cakes
that are as inspiring to bake as they are to share. Each one begins with an easy,
from-scratch mix that forms the foundation of a range of delectable batters, from
vanilla to chocolate, citrus to coconut, and everything in between. Pour a simple
flavored syrup (the professional baker’s secret weapon!) over the still-warm cake
layers, add one of a dozen dead-easy frostings, maybe a quick topping or two—
and you’ve got a hundred cake possibilities. The cake’s destination is up to you
—I’ve just handed you some great reasons to make the trip.
Cake—even just the promise of it—brings people together. Browse through
the pages that follow and get ready to join the legion of cake bakers whose
celebrations start in the kitchen. I am so happy to have you here, and hope that
you’ll find your next favorite cake lurking among these recipes.