by Michele Urvater

Chocolate cake is America's favorite dessert, from fudgy brownies to mile-high layer cakes. Now, virtually every rendition of this best-loved dessert is presented in one tempting volume—more than 150 cakes for every occasion.

Features:

• Devil's Food Cake
• Buttermilk Chocolate Cake
• Sacher Torte
• Pecan Bourbon Chocolate Cake
• Double Chocolate Christmas Log
• and many more!

There are heirloom cake recipes that date to the beginning of the last century and desserts as up-to-the-minute as individual warm chocolate cakes. This book guides bakers of all skill levels through a wealth of original and tempting variations on the standards. And a plethora of fillings, icings, buttercreams, and glazes allows for nearly endless mixing and matching of layers and frostings.

Each recipe has a designated level of difficulty, so even the novice baker will be able to achieve instant success—and chocolate gratification. Meticulous recipes along with advice on advance preparation, serving, decoration, and storage all make this comprehensive tribute to the ultimate dessert a book that belongs in every baker's library.

Contents

1. Ingredients, Equipment, and Techniques
   • Ingredients
   • Baking Equipment
   • Baking Information and Techniques

2. The Recipes
   • Plain and Easy Batter Cakes
   • Cheesecakes
   • Butter and Shortened Cakes
   • Layer Cakes
   • Foam Cakes
   • Biscuit Cakes
   • Flourless Cakes
   • Special, Individual, and Refrigerated Cakes

3. The Icing on the Cake
   • Frostings, Buttercreams, Icings, Fillings, and Glazes

4. Decorative Techniques
   • Decorating Whole Cakes
   • How to Glaze, Ice, Fill, Frost, and Assemble Cakes
   • Designing the Decorative Touches
   • Presentation and the Plated Dessert
   • Sauces
   • Garnishes
   • Quick and Easy Chocolate Decorations

Appendices:

• Michele's Favorite Desserts
• Glossary of Terms and Phrases
• Source List
• Selected Bibliography

Index

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