false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1235345693m/4007026.jpg 4007026 1 Few creations are more associated with joy or more symbolic of the sweet life than cake. After all, it is so much more than dessert.<P>As a book about cake would demand, this one is a multilayered, amply frosted, delicious concoction with a slice (or more) for everyone. <I>Let Me Eat Cake</i> is not a book about baking cake, but about eating it.<P>Author Leslie F. Miller embarks on a journey (not a journey cake, although it's in there) into the moist white underbelly of the cake world. She visits factories and local bakeries and wedding cake boutiques. She interviews famous chefs like Duff Goldman of Food Network's <I>Ace of Cakes</i> and less famous ones like Roland Winbeckler, who sculpts life-size human figures out of hundreds of pounds of pound cake and buttercream frosting. She takes decorating classes, shares recipes, and samples the best cakes and the worst.<P>The book is held together by the hero on a quest, one that traces cake history and tradition. If we were to bake a cake to celebrate the birth of cake (cake is an Old Norse word, first used around 1230), it is hard to say how many candles would go on top. Though the meaning of the word (originally "lump of something"), not to mention our expectations of its ingredients, has changed over time, we now celebrate cake as the coming together of flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and a pinch of salt.<P>And what a celebration. Baking a cake is hard work, but tasting it is pure pleasure. So put on some elastic-waist pants and grab a fork. 4053381 14 4 2009 Let Me Eat Cake: A Celebration of Flour, Sugar, Butter, Eggs, Vanilla, Baking Powder, and a Pinch of Salt total:36|5:5|4:5|3:7|2:12|1:7| 36 97 74 20 2 4 false false Wed May 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 14:22:26 -0700 2009 Sun May 10 13:45:41 -0700 2009
I think what put me off was how the author kept switching back and forth between personal memo...more...]]> 1 0 false false Wed Sep 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 19:20:03 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 19:35:24 -0700 2009
I'm a self proclaimed connoisse...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun May 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 19 12:15:40 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 20:24:57 -0700 2009
Reading it, however, was sometimes a struggle. I expected, as the title said, a celebration of cake. Instead, the book is part-memoir, part-history lesson, part inside-peek at the Baltimore cake scene.

I have to admit I disliked the "...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Nov 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jun 12 07:11:07 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 12:20:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Wed May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 10:21:50 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 14:12:54 -0700 2009
I really couldn't find any clear point to this book. It just seemed to ramble on and on and on. If you are f...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Oct 29 16:19:04 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 16:23:41 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 4 false false Sat May 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 05:27:31 -0700 2009 Sat May 09 05:41:32 -0700 2009
Its an interesting topic, but she lacks focus. For all her talk in the beginning about how her book ...more...]]> 1 0 false true Sat Jul 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 07:33:44 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 14:57:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Oct 25 19:43:27 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 19:44:34 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Sun Jul 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 15:05:57 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 15:07:12 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 07:11:55 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 06:41:44 -0700 2009
This is the kind of book that is best read in slices. (As much as we might want to, eating an entire cake in one sitting might be a bad idea). I found p...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon May 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 08:17:03 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 08:22:52 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 08:29:02 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 08:29:55 -0700 2009 1 2 false false Sat May 16 02:27:49 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 02:28:25 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Apr 26 08:29:38 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 08:30:11 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Tue Oct 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 11:37:39 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 10:23:43 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Feb 21 20:35:39 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 20:40:08 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 11:10:11 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 14:59:23 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Sun Oct 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 06:03:58 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 18 16:59:28 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed May 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 19:59:24 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 18:14:58 -0700 2009 1 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=4007026