Early Book Review: Everyday Cake: 45 Simple Recipes for Layer, Bundt, Loaf, and Sheet Cakes by Polina Chesnakova

Everyday Cake: 45 Simple Recipes for Layer, Bundt, Loaf, and Sheet Cakes by Polina Chesnakova is currently scheduled for release on August 16 2022. Using ingredients that are readily available, these cakes are unfussy yet sweetly indulgent. Recipes are arranged using pans most of us already have in our kitchens: round, square, loaf, rectangle, sheet, and bundt. Flavors include warm spices, herbs and flowers, and sweet essences, plus chocolate, fruit, nuts, and seeds. An wide range of cakes will tickle every fancy. For instance a Vanilla Malted Milk with Milk Chocolate Frosting would be perfect for a birthday celebration, Lemon and Lavender Yogurt cake would be quick to make and satisfying with cup of tea, and Roasted Strawberry with Whipped Crème Fraiche Shortcake would be the perfect way to end a summer supper.

Everyday Cake is the perfect cookbook for cake lovers.I love a simple and delicious recipe, and this book offers both. I like that for the most part ingredients and kitchen tools are things most of us have handy already, and the recipes are well organized and easy to follow. I liked that the recipes included metric and imperial measurements- so that everyone can use the ingredients lists without conversions and calculations. I do need to argue with the idea that these recipes are not fussy, and that everything is simple and available. Some of these recipes fall firmly on the side of fussy for me, which is fine because sometimes that is what you are looking for. Some oft he recipes call for florals, semolina flour, tahini, and things that are clearly not universal pantry staples. Again, sometimes you are looking for something to do with an abundance or rhubarb, extra candied citrus peels, or persimmons I guess. While all of these thongs can be found in a good grocery store or supplier- not everyone has the funds, time, and access needed to track some of these things down. While I enjoyed the cookbook for what it was, a good collection of cakes, I think pushing it as simple cakes for everyone is a little off and kind of frustrated me. I did find some flavor combinations that I might be trying out, but nothing struck me as terribly new or exciting that would lead me to adding this to me cookbook collection. 

Early Book Review: This is a Birthday Cake by Andrew Cangelose, Josh Shipley

This is a Birthday Cake is a picturebook written by Andrew Cangelose and illustrated by Josh Shipley. It is currently scheduled for release on July 12 2022. It's Taco the squirrel's birthday, and all of his little animal friends are planning a big surprise for him—they're going to make him a birthday cake! The only problem with their plan is that the baker in the group is too slow. So, as this sassy crew of critters is known to do, they set out to learn all they can about birthday cakes and how to make one, with spectacularly disastrous and delightful results.

This is a Birthday Cake is a fun and highly entertaining read. I like that readers get a bit of history about birthday cakes, and how to bake one, even as we go along as Bucky speeds through a much less tasty cake making process. I thought that Bucky's desire to hurry things along and do things his own way is something that many young readers can relate to, as are the less than perfect results. I like that while a lesson is learned, the book is still a joy to read without feeling like the lesson was the only point of the book. The story and illustrations are great fun and never treat the readers or even the impetuous Bucky like they are bad for the mistakes that they make. This was just a fun read and I think it would be a great choice for storytime, bedtime, and multiple reads by new fans.