From Baked Alaska to Florida's classic Key Lime Pie, restaurateur and cookbook author Brown (CakeLove) takes readers on a cross-country cakewalk, stopping for plenty of lore, local ingredients, and other sweet desserts (like cupcakes, scones and pralines). Divided into four regions (including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico), Brown's collection is a pleasant mix of the expected-Boston Cream Pie, Coca-Cola Cake from Georgia, Mississippi Mud Cake-and inspired niche desserts like Vermont's Maple Creme Brulee, Maryland's multilayered Smith Island Cake, Tennessee Mountain Stack Cake, and Avocado Cupcakes from (where else?) California. Brown does a commendable job helping cooks along with clearly written though occasionally complex recipes, all but ensuring a perfect Lady Baltimore, Margarita Mousse, or St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake. Rounded out with ephemera ranging from frosting tips to biographies of the king and queen of box mixes (the real Duncan Hines and the fictional Betty Crocker), this coast-to-coast compilation is a sweet home-baked slice of Americana.
Loving cake is a natural part of Warren Brown’s constitution. Now, in order to form a more perfect union of flour, eggs, butter, and sugar, he’s offering his unique take on classic dessert recipes from all fifty states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
Starting out with Baked Alaska (what else?), Brown tours the whole country, updating regional confections like King Cake (Louisiana), Lady Baltimore Cake (South Carolina), Mud Cake (Mississippi), and Key Lime Pie (Florida). There are official state desserts (Maryland’s Smith Island Cake; Massachusetts’ Boston Cream Pie) and unofficial favorites (New York–style Cheesecake; St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake), as well as an ovenful of brand-new baked treats that Brown has created to honor specific states’ agricultural bounty (Avocado Cupcakes for California; Huckleberry Cake for Idaho). Eye-catching photos, informative sidebars, and a separate section on buttercream frostings complete the mix.
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