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3 Cake Baking Books For Beginners
Cake baking as a beginner can be very intimidating. I have many baking essentials for beginners that I recommend, and a good baking book is high on the list!! These books (and many others) have taught me everything I know about cake baking. Cake making and decorating takes a TON of practice and patience. With the help of these cake baking books for beginners, you’ll learn all the skills you need to make beautiful, delicious cakes.
The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
Best recipe: Chocolate fudge cake with milk chocolate buttercream
The cake bible has been my holy grail for years!!! It is truly the book that taught me 90% of what I know about cake baking and got me obsessed with baking cakes. The Cake Bible is 537 pages of delicious cakes, buttercreams, ganaches, fillings, decorating tips, and more!
The Cake Bible is perfect for those who
- Are serious about learning to bake and decorate cakes
- Don’t mind putting a lot of time into their bakes
- Want to learn about the science behind cake baking
- Care about the overall quality of their cakes, not just flavor
- Want to eventually make wedding cakes
Pros
–This book is the most extensive cake baking book you will find on the market. It has every type of cake, frosting, and filling you could imagine. It teaches you how to bake, level, fill, frost, and decorate cakes. It truly walks you through every step.
–Recipes are incredibly detailed. Throughout each chapter, Rose Levy Beranbaum goes into detail about why each ingredient is being added, highly specific baking instructions, and loads of variations of things.
–The Cake Bible lets you be creative. I love this book because you can basically just mix and match cakes, frostings, and fillings. The book is separated cakes, frostings and fillings, decorative techniques, ingredients, and tips for wedding cakes. Don’t worry, she still gives recommendations on what pairs well together so you don’t have to figure it out on your own if you don’t want to.
–Everything is delicious!! I would buy this book for the chocolate cake and chocolate frosting recipes alone. The friend I baked it for devoured the whole thing by himself in three days. If you buy this book, that has to be your first bake.
Cons
–This book is very 90s. It’s an old book, and many people are guilty of judging it by its cover. About half the cake decorations she has in the book are “out of style” if you will, and something I would probably never make. However, there are a lot of timeless decorations as well such as the chocolate cage, marzipan roses, and piped decorations.
–There are very few pictures. This book is mostly written instructions which may make it difficult if you’re a visual learner. However, the instructions are still written very clearly and I haven’t run into too many issues trying to understand it. If you’re looking for pictures for every single step, this probably isn’t the book for you.
–The recipes are meticulous. This could be a pro and a con. The thing I love about Beranbaum is that her recipes are science-based and have a reason for every single step. However, if you are hoping to whip a cake together in 20 minutes, that will not happen here. This book is for the ambitious, for sure.
Bakewise by Shirley O. Corriher
Best recipe: Take-your-breath-away lemon pound cake
This book was recommended to me by my baking science professor and I instantly loved it. This book has about 150 pages of cake and frosting recipes. The rest is filled with other tasty treats!
This cake baking book is perfect for those who
- Want to learn about the function of baking ingredients in cakes
- Want to develop their own recipes
- Want to become an overall well-rounded baker
Pros
–You will become a true baking scientist after this book! Bakewise goes into detail about how each ingredient works, how to manipulate a baked good, and why each step and ingredient are essential.
–Bakewise helps you with recipe development. Creating your own recipes sounds scary now, but this book helps break down the percentages of ingredients in cakes so you can easily try your hand at recipe development. Corriher also teaches you how to alter recipes, ie: how to make cakes firmer, richer, more tender, all that fun stuff.
–You can learn about other baked goods as well! Bakewise contains all sorts of fun recipes like cakes, breads, pies, cookies, muffins, and the best chocolate lava cookies ever!!
Cons
–This book doesn’t have many pictures. Much like The Cake Bible, this book relies heavily on written instructions. Again, everything is very clearly written and well-described, but it’s not as easy as looking at a picture!
–Bakewise is not as geared towards cakes as The Cake Bible. Bakewise is still an incredible book and will teach you a lot about cakes, but it’s not as thorough.
Crumbs & Doilies by Cupcake Jemma
Best recipe: Bananarama cupcakes with Nutella frosting
I have been obsessed with Cupcake Jemma’s youtube channel for years and years. Her story is so inspiring to me! The best thing about her book is that she has hundreds of recipes on her youtube channel you can try out before you buy the book if you want. There are still a lot of exclusive recipes in the book that you won’t find on her channel.
Crumbs & Doilies is perfect for those who
- Are visual learners
- Want to bake just for fun
- Are brand new to cake baking
- Love making cupcakes
- Want to try fun flavor combinations
Pros
–The Crumbs & Doilies book is perfect if you’ve never baked a cake before. Jemma’s recipes are incredibly beginner friendly and don’t require the meticulous instructions that The Cake Bible and Bakewise do.
–This book is highly visual! My favorite thing about this book is that there are QR codes you can scan that will take you to exclusive videos on cupcake Jemma’s website. These videos show you how to trim, fill, stack, and frost a cake. There are also videos on beginner piping techniques.
–There are so many fun flavor combinations! Jemma’s bakes are so creative and inspired. From matcha and black sesame cake to passionfruit and chocolate cupcakes to cereal bowl cupcakes, everyone will love something from this book. It’s impossible not to feel inspired by Jemma’s fun flavors and bold designs.
–Bonus: This book has all of Crumbs & Doilies NY cookie recipes which are my absolute favorite! You can check out my favorite Nutella-stuffed NY cookies here!
Cons
–There isn’t a lot of baking science involved. This book has many tasty recipes, but if you’re looking to understand the why’s and how’s of baking, this book will not do that for you.
–Some ingredients are hard to find. C&D is based in the UK so they frequently use ingredients like self-raising flour, Bueno, and yuzu that aren’t as accessible in other countries. However, she does often include substitutes for the essential ingredients so you can still bake most things at home.
So there you have it, the top three cake baking books for beginners! I hope these books inspire you to bake something incredible like they have for me. Happy baking! 🙂
