A World of Cake

150 Recipes for Sweet Traditions from Cultures Near and Far; Honey cakes to flat cakes, fritters to chiffons, tartes to tortes, meringues to mooncakes, fruit cakes to spice cakes

Contributors

By Krystina Castella

Formats and Prices

Price

$12.99

Price

$16.99 CAD

Format

ebook (Digital original)

Format:

ebook (Digital original) $12.99 $16.99 CAD

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around January 3, 2012. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Take your sweet tooth on a global tour! Whether you’re indulging in Australian pavlova, Japanese mochi, or Italian panettone, it’s just not a celebration without cake. In this delectable cookbook, Krystina Castella offers more than 150 irresistible cake recipes from around the world, accompanied by mouthwatering photographs and insights into unique cultural traditions. Discover exciting new flavors and innovative twists on your favorite desserts as you explore the sweet delights of a variety of chiffons, fruitcakes, meringues, and more. 

Genre:

  • If Epicurious.com ever decided to do a cake-version of "Around the World in 80 Dishes," Krystina Castella's A World of Cake (Storey) would be a good book to have on hand. Truly global in her coverage, Castella's book is a great resource for anyone with a sweet tooth and particularly, a penchant for cakes.The introductory chapter includes a year's worth of cake-appropriate holidays (October 2 for Gandhi's birthday; late May/early June for Lazybones Day in the Netherlands). My favorite part of the introduction is where Castella discusses cake categories: Chiffons, doughnuts, honey cakes, rice cakes, and more all have their place in the larger cake family. With 150 cake recipes showcased by region, there are some that are definitely familiar: King Cake, Black Forest Cake, Panettone, Mochi. And then there are the unfamiliar, and that's when things get really exciting. Malpuas from India, Nutmeg Cake from Armenia, Bolognese Rice Cake from Italy, Simnel from Ireland—the list goes on and on. Options for fillings, icings, and other flavors are presented with each recipe and interesting factoids about the specific recipe help put the cake in context. So if cakes have a special place in your heart and on your palate, you'll appreciate Castella's passion and knowledge about cakes and its world wide appeal.Recipes to try:
    - M'hanncha (Snake Cake) from Morocco
    - Pan de Muerto from Mexico
    - Vasilopita from Greece
    Epicurious.com
  • . . . a well researched, thoughtfully organized, almost documentary-like survey of cakes around the world by someone who has written several dessert books (Booze Cakes, Crazy About Cupcakes), perhaps best politely described as whimsical, was exactly -- but then again not quite -- what we expected. But this is a good book, a great one, even.
    LA Weekly Blog
  • "...this book is a distinctive contribution to the world of baking, and armchair bakers will delight in flipping through the pages of this colorful and engaging volume."
    Library Journal
  • Chosen as Best International Baking Book in the lineup of the twenty five Best Cookbooks of 2010!

    "Pictures of marzipan-covered fruitcakes are gorgeous, and sidebars on such topics as street cakes make this an educational book in addition to a holiday workhorse."
    Publisher's Weekly
  • "This extraordinary new cake book by Krystina Castella is a perfect gift for anyone who loves cake even if he or she doesn't plan ever to bake one. It is an in depth study of myriad cakes from all around the world. It is fascinating to see how each cake, beautifully photographed in color, reflects the history, ingredients, and technology of its culture. As a cake baker I love seeing the world through cake colored eyes.I feel somewhat remiss that my emphasis over the years has been focused mainly on flavor, texture, and personal history and less on the wider historical origins of my creations. This well-researched book will serve as a handy reference guide. It takes cakes to a whole new level of significance and presents them, both visually and historically within the context of their creation."
    Rose Levy Beranbaum, expert baker

On Sale
Jan 3, 2012
Page Count
352 pages
Publisher
Storey
ISBN-13
9781603424462

Krystina Castella

Krystina Castella

About the Author

Krystina Castella is a professor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. She is the author of A World of Cake, Pops!, Crazy About Cupcakes, and Discovering Nature’s Alphabet, and she has been published in Craft magazine.

Learn more about this author