Iconic 'Cake Bible' celebrates 35 years with revised edition featuring new tools, old classics

Editor's note: This segment was rebroadcast on Dec. 18, 2024. Click here for that audio.

When Rose Levy Beranbaum’s “Cake Bible” was first published in 1988, it was as though the wheel had been re-invented.

Sure, there were other books devoted to cakes (many of them excellent), but this one not only introduced innovative techniques but also extensive charts, photographs and meticulous directions. In other words, a masterful blend of art and science that became the go-to resource for home bakers and pastry chefs alike. (Not to mention the first American cookbook to list ingredients by weight, not volume, and introduce the radical concept of ‘reverse creaming’).

Now, 35 years later, Levy Beranbaum presents her revised version of the book — which includes modern equipment, new techniques and even a few revisions to her favorite recipes. Levy Beranbaum joins host Robin Young to talk about it all, including why today’s eggs have smaller yolks.

“Ingredients have changed and equipment has changed,” Levy Beranbaum says. “But the significant thing about equipment is that most cake pans now are two inches high and they were one and a half inches. And that makes a big difference.”

By Rose Levy Benanbaum

Chocolate Domingo

Coconut Cream Cake

Renee Fleming Chiffon

White Lilac Nostalgia

Woody's Marble Cheesecake

Excerpted with the permission of HarperCollins.