Vintage Cakes: Timeless Recipes for Cupcakes, Flips, Rolls, Layer, Angel, Bundt, Chiffon, and Icebox Cakes for Today's Sweet Tooth [A Baking Book}

Just want to add my five stars to all the others. I have made a number of the recipes from this book and they have been really good. This is probably not the right book for a first time tentative baker, but those with a little experience and and a sense of adventure will very much enjoy it. This book is about the flavor and quality of the product, not about how it looks. There are clear instructions on how to get complete every step of the cake baking process, and then how to assemble them. The decorating is left to your imagination (just look at all the beautiful customer photos to confirm), and that makes it even more fun. I have not baked every cake in the book yet, but every one I have has received multiple praises. My most recent was the double-dip caramel cake (don't have the name right). I only had two cake pans and cutting them in thirds proved to be a little steep for my skill set...let's just say there was no question the cake was homemade. However, I received a response from one experienced cake eater that it was one of the best cakes they had ever eaten. Anyway, I look forward to the challenge (and so does my family) of having to bake this cake a few more times to get my assembling technique ironed out. This is my new go to cake book and if you are actually interested enough that you are reading this review, then you should make it yours too. Thank you Julie Richardson for sharing these great recipes as the East Coaster may have never been able to experience your wonderful cakes otherwise. Lastly, anyone who thinks as highly of this book as I do should look at First Prize Pies (by Allison Kave) as a complementary pie baking book. Her pies are not necessarily vintage, but very creative, from scratch and fun and challenging in the same way these cakes are.

I’ve been delighted by this book - the layout, the writing, the recipes, the photos, everything! I’ve made a few of the recipes so far, and they’ve been terrific. The Italian Cream Cake was amazing (although I made a traditional cream cheese frosting for it), and the Tropicake recipe is the perfect pineapple coconut cake recipe that has eluded me for years. Actually, the Tropicakes I made as mini-bundts, and they were the best bundt cake I’ve made in a long time, despite all my bundt-specific cookbooks. Malted milk cupcakes too, yum! I bought a number of cake books around the same time and figured I’d make one recipe from each, rotate them for awhile, but now I think I’ll just stick with this one until I’ve made everything I want to try, since the few recipes I have tried have been so superior to others and the selection of recipes is so interesting. I realize that these are supposed to be traditional cakes, but most of them are new to me, not just updated versions of something I’ve had before. I should also mention that the book doesn’t have as many pictures as I would normally like (which some kind reviewer here prepared me for), but it’s so well written that I haven’t minded that at all. I don’t need the picture to convince me to read or try the recipe. I only have a few cookbooks of which that’s true. Anyway, I highly recommend this book, I cannot imagine someone not liking it!

Perfect coffee table boom Or addition to your cookbook collection . If you have a friend who loved to “ read” cookbooks or all things vintage, this one is very giftable! The recipes are vintage yet fresh .

I recommend this book to anyone who likes to bake or would like to learn to bake. The recipes range from simple to complex and the sections Tips and Techniques, Cake Baker's Battery, and Cake Baker's Cupboard contain information for the beginner and the experienced. I had a cream cheese frosting/berries problem and solved it by switching to Julie's buttercream recipe. The chemistry lessons are great for everyone and a must for anyone who wants to bake with success. Knowing how ingredients interact to achieve the desired results will save you a lot of heartache. I have a book on baking dedicated to this subject and much prefer Julie's explanations - short, well explained, and to the point. While some of the recipes are more involved, have a number of steps, and require a time commitment, baking is my stress release, so I thoroughly enjoy being totally focused on a more complex, time consuming recipe. However, there is something for every occasion, and level of experience in this book, along with recipes that are quick, or more complex. The lack of photographs does not bother me, as this leaves more space for recipes, but I understand the desire for a visual comparsion of your cake and that of the author. This is not a make or break (for me) for purchasing this book. Love, love this book and it is my new favorite!!!!! I give it a 10.

I adore this book!! The pictures are beautiful and the book is well written. The ingredients are simple for the most part, and the methods detailed and precise. Following the directions that are so detailed, everything I have made so far has been delicious. Our favorite so far is the Honey Bee cake which has such a wonderful flavor and is really easy to make. I like the smaller recipes too. I also like the Rustic Fruit Desserts book that this author co-authored and will look for more of her books. Love the stories too. Even if I didn't make a recipe, I would enjoy reading them all, but they are delicious and fun to make and I plan to try as many as I can. Good photos are important to me and I do wish that every recipe had a photo to go with it. The photos included are beautiful, especially the cover!

This cookbook is by far the best cookbook I've purchased in ages! I actually originally checked it out from our local library, and decided to purchase it after exhausting my renewals and racking up a week's worth of overdue fines. Since purchasing this book I've made four different cakes for different events, and all of them have been a hit. I personally have enjoyed trying the various recipes calling for Bundt pans, and I really loved being able to make a from scratch version of the cherry chip cake my grandma baked my mom for her birthdays growing up. I've included a photo of that one. The only con that I can even come up with is that I've adapted her buttercream recipes with my own buttercream base, as I do not prefer buttercreams made with egg whites. However, that is completely unimportant, as the wealth of cake recipes and the stories provided with them more than make this book a worthwhile purchase. Everyone with an interest in baking should purchase this book.

I made the Pearls Chocolate Macaroon Cake: what a mess! Not only did this cake require an unnecessary number of steps and complicated directions but the end result was mediocre at best. It was a mess to clean up and the cake sliced messy too. I am an avid home baker and very precise. This cake lacked flavor--especially the macaroon filling. In addition, her measurements for dividing the chocolate batter to accomodate for the macaroon tunnel are off--and I used a scale. A shame, this recipe was why I bought the book. In addition, her chocolate ganache recipe needs tweaking. I used it as a ganache and it still needed 30 min to set up.😞

Yum! Great recipes. Many from years ago. Easy to make today, I mean a cake is a cake, after all. No weird ingredients to hunt down in stores. Cakes etc like you remember from when you were a child, assuming you're over a certain age. Your grandma or great-grandmother could have made these cakes. Nothing common about these recipes but they are familiar, assuming you had the good fortune to have a baker in the family or neighborhood. I remember many of these from church suppers from when I was little. Some cook friends have admired this cookbook. It's just plain pretty as well as useful.

I'm totally pleased with all the choice cakes representing this delightful collection. There is simple language in the directions,(historical storyline beginning each recipe, photographs of your outcome,and who said jelly roll variations are not around.They are lush & divine, Honey Bee Cake,Daffidol cake, Italian Cream Cake, Blitz Hazelnut torte, Real Raspberry in Buttercream icing, Bourbon Cake, Almond Buttermilk Streamliner Cake, topped with Lemon Custard Icing,& Lazy Dazy OatmealCake, are a few of my favourites !

I truly love this book. It is my favorite baking book in my huge collection. It covers the history of baking, and reminds us to use traditional ingredients rather than convenience products. You will never use a boxed mix again. It is well-written with lovely photos, and unlike any other cookbook I have.

Cuenta con todo tipo de recetas, tanto sencillas como muy complicadas, pero todas son muy satisfactorias de realizar. Además con algo de practica los pasteles te salen perfectos y deliciosos. Nos encanto gracias

devo dare 4 stelle a questo libro perchè è bellissimo esteticamente...le ricette però sono complicate e soprattutto sono torte adatte alle feste o a celebrazioni particolari

A really easy to follow book, that makes amazingly delicious cakes. My favourite so far is the Maple and Pecan, although I cut the frosting by half, but it was still great. Off to buy more baking books with chiffon cake recipes in :-)