The Cake Bible

by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Original publisher: William Morrow and Company

Date of publication: 1988

ISBN: 0688044026

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Recommended by

Yvette Zuniga Jemison

Food writer and recipe developer

Birthdays are always big celebrations in our family and there’s nothing quite like a homemade birthday cake. Our youngest daughter always enjoyed flipping through the pages and selecting a recipe for her birthday cake each year. As she got older, she even realized that we could mix and match the cake from one recipe and the frosting from another. Her all-time favorite is The Taste of Heaven cake on page 166.

Erin Jeanne McDowell

Cook, food writer and food stylist

I was 16 when I decided I wanted to be a baker. I used to go to my local bookstore to pour over books as I began to learn about baking. I was too broke to buy any (at first), but this book fed me in so many ways, and eventually became one of the very first cookbooks on my shelf. It taught me precision, to have a sharp, careful eye, and how amazing one single dessert can be.

Stella Parks

Pastry chef

My parents gave me this book for my birthday when I was 14 years old, and it represented so many firsts for me! The first time I ever used weight measurements, the first time I'd ever made Swiss buttercream, the first time I ever made a sponge cake, and I was obsessed with all the variations that were included with each recipe.