All Cakes Considered : A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted, and Approved by the Staff of NPR's 'All Things Considered'

From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Turning the offices of National Public Radio into a sugar-dusted gastrolab, NPR producer Gray (of the news program All Things Considered) spent a year testing cake recipes on coworkers to find the most satisfying among them. The result is this eclectic but cohesive cookbook, with a gentle learning curve especially useful for novices. An untrained pastry chef herself, Gray begins with a basic, lemon-glazed sour cream pound cake (which she calls the "Man Catcher") that introduces several key baking techniques: creaming the butter and sugar, incorporating eggs, beating batter, and lining the pan. She increases the skill level gradually as she goes, moving on to bundt, layer, and fruit cakes, followed by trickier temptations like angel food cake and the spicy, molasses-rich Appalachian Stack Cake. Each recipe comes with the story of its origin, reception, and variants. Readers will spot many bold-faced culinary names like Paula Deen and Ina Garten, but also obscure sources like out-of-print cookbooks, local publications, and small-town prizewinners. A handful of no-cake recipes includes cowboy cookies, butterscotch bars, and sinful fried pies. The instructional tone and homespun quality are signature NPR ingredients; fans of the network will find this cookbook a useful and companionable tool for family eating, potlucks, and easy entertaining. Product Description Melissa Gray is National Public Radio's Cake Lady. Every Monday she brings a cake to the office for her colleagues at NPR to enjoy. Hundreds of Mondays (and cakes) later, Melissa has lots of cake-making tips to share. With more than 50 recipes for the cakes that have been dreamed of and drooled over for a lifetime including Brown Sugar Pound Cake, Peppermint and Chocolate Rum Marble Cake, Lord and Lady Baltimore Cakes, Dark-Chocolate Red Velvet Cake, and Honey Buttercream and Apricot Jam Cake All Cakes Considered is an essential addition to every baker's library. From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Turning the offices of National Public Radio into a sugar-dusted gastrolab, NPR producer Gray (of the news program All Things Considered) spent a year testing cake recipes on coworkers to find the most satisfying among them. The result is this eclectic but cohesive cookbook, with a gentle learning curve especially useful for novices. An untrained pastry chef herself, Gray begins with a basic, lemon-glazed sour cream pound cake (which she calls the "Man Catcher") that introduces several key baking techniques: creaming the butter and sugar, incorporating eggs, beating batter, and lining the pan. She increases the skill level gradually as she goes, moving on to bundt, layer, and fruit cakes, followed by trickier temptations like angel food cake and the spicy, molasses-rich Appalachian Stack Cake. Each recipe comes with the story of its origin, reception, and variants. Readers will spot many bold-faced culinary names like Paula Deen and Ina Garten, but also obscure sources like out-of-print cookbooks, local publications, and small-town prizewinners. A handful of no-cake recipes includes cowboy cookies, butterscotch bars, and sinful fried pies. The instructional tone and homespun quality are signature NPR ingredients; fans of the network will find this cookbook a useful and companionable tool for family eating, potlucks, and easy entertaining. Product DescriptionMelissa Gray is National Public Radio's Cake Lady. Every Monday she brings a cake to the office for her colleagues at NPR to enjoy. Hundreds of Mondays (and cakes) later, Melissa has lots of cake-making tips to share. With more than 50 recipes for the cakes that have been dreamed of and drooled over for a lifetime including Brown Sugar Pound Cake, Peppermint and Chocolate Rum Marble Cake, Lord and Lady Baltimore Cakes, Dark-Chocolate Red Velvet Cake, and Honey Buttercream and Apricot Jam Cake __All Cakes Considered__ is an essential addition to every baker's library.

all Cakes Considered-- Melissa Gray Is National Public Radio's Cake Lady. Every Monday She Brings A Cake To The Office For Her Colleagues At Npr To Enjoy. Hundreds Of Mondays (and Cakes) Later, Melissa Has Lots Of Cake-making Tips To Share. With More Than 50 Recipes For The Cakes That Have Been Dreamed Of And Drooled Over For A Lifetime Including Brown Sugar Pound Cake, Peppermint And Chocolate Rum Marble Cake, Lord And Lady Baltimore Cakes, Dark-chocolate Red Velvet Cake, And Honey Buttercream And Apricot Jam Cake all Cakes Considered Is An Essential Addition To Every Baker's Library.

the New York Times - Christine Muhlke

don't Look For Any Restaurant Credentials Or Fancy Farmers' Market Ingredients In all Cakes Considered. Melissa Gray's Sassy-pants Prose Will Inspire Even Food Snobs To Shamelessly Lube A Tube Pan With Pam Before Pouring In Crisco-filled Batter…her Chattiness Runs From The Titles…to The Instructions…[gray] Unapologetically Worships Dorie Greenspan And Paula Deen In Equal Measure, Takes Recipes From Old Church Cookbooks, to Kill A Mockingbird And southern Living Magazine, And Has A Ball Throughout. May A Thousand Cake Ladies Arise From This Project.

A producer of NPR's All Things Considered takes readers on a culinary adventure in "this eclectic but cohesive cookbook" featuring 50+ cake recipes ( Publishers Weekly , starred review). Melissa Gray started as a baking novice, but soon became National Public Radio's Cake Lady. Every Monday she brought a cake to the office for her colleagues at NPR to enjoy. Hundreds of Mondays (and cakes) later, Melissa has lots of cake-making tips to share. Following the more than fifty recipes in this book, readers can develop their cake-baking skills alongside Melissa#8212;and enjoy irresistible treats like Brown Sugar Pound Cake, Peppermint and Chocolate Rum Marble Cake, Lord and Lady Baltimore Cakes, Dark-Chocolate Red Velvet Cake, Honey Buttercream and Apricot Jam Cake, and more From National Public Radio's Cake Lady, Melissa Gray, comes this collection of more than 50 cake recipes and cake-making tips accompanied by 24 color photos.