Booze Cakes: Confections Spiked with Spirits, Wine, and Beer

by Krystina Castella, Terry Lee Stone

Indulge in your sweet and boozy cravings with these step-by-step recipes for spiking delicious confections with spirits, wine, and beer   Mix, bake, buzz! These delightfully tipsy desserts are perfect for dinner parties, potlucks, and pitch-ins. You’ll find recipes   Classic Booze All the recipes your grandparents used to bake, including salty-sweet Honey Spice Beer Cake, bourbon-filled Lane Cake frosted with decadent bourbon buttercream, and teeny-tiny yet potent Tropical Fruitcake Cupcakes. Cocktail These brand-new recipes are based on classic cocktails and mixed A tropical Piña Colada Cake, Mint Julep Cupcakes made with Kentucky bourbon, and creamy, chocolatey Rum-and-Coke Whoopie Pies. Cake For the perfect party snack, try bite-sized Long Island Iced Tea Cakes, decadent little Wine-Tasting Cakes, and every imaginable flavor of Jelly Cake Shot. Cakes with a These extraordinary cake recipes are made even better with alcohol. Enjoy a Jägermeister-powered Deutsch German Chocolate Cake, Shamelessly Rich Carrot Cake infused with 151-proof rum, and frosty, delicious Spiked Ice-Cream Cake.   Featured throughout are tips and tricks on baking with alcohol, serving suggestions for fun cocktail-cake parties, and yummy cocktail recipes to accompany your confections—plus a handy “Booze Meter” that tracks the total alcohol content in each of these decadent desserts. Indulge yourself!

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food, Ebooks, Foodie

221 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 19, 2010

Reviews

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how easy any of these are but I'm a fairly competent baker so I'm looking forward to the recipes in here - especially the rum and coke whoopie pies, pina colada cake, mint julep cupcakes and the punch drunk cake.

oh heck yeah.

[Kathrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yum. My sweet, wonderful boyfriend presented me with the Mudslide Cake on my birthday -- delicious chocolate, homemade caramel, whipped cream and Bailey's. Looking forward to baking and boozing all the way through this one...

[Lucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this cookbook is graphically pleasing & full of delightful pictures & recipes, the actual recipes themselves leave a bit to be desired...

Some recipes seem to be missing a step, or the directions sentence is half-written. I found myself scratching my head more than once trying to figure out how to interpret the direction, or decide what way to combine things. It felt an awful lot like the stripped down recipes the bakers get on GREAT BRITISH BAKE-OFF where they are left to figure out how long to cook something at 350 degrees, or how to incorporate all the ingredients together to get the desired result.

I enjoy baking & bake every weekend for my friends & co-workers, so I'm used to a variety of cookbook writing styles & shorthand. This cookbook felt like they spent all the time on the photographs & design, and neglected to double-check the accuracy & solidness of each receipe.

The "TRES LECHE CAKE" recipe has an item in the ingredient list that is omitted from the directions. It also asks for 1 cup of rum to be poured over the cake when that is WAY too much. Although it has a 1 of 3 smiley face rating, the rum was so overpowering my co-workers accused me of trying to get them drunk. I tried the cake & it was literally so sodden with booze it was unappetizing & inedible (the bottom soggy parts anyways).

The "CHAMPAGNE CAKE" lists its frosting ingredient ratios & directions differently on the cake recipe page than in the "CHAMPAGNE/LIQUOR BUTTER CREAM FROSTING" recipe at the back of the book. The frosting I made following the recipe directions had to be drastically altered to stay together...

The "MOCHA RUM BROWNIES" needed an extra 20 minutes of cooking time & they were still very "moist".

I think the cakes & treats will eventually turn out well. Just don't be surprised if you have to make each item a couple of times to hit its sweet spot.

You've been warned! If you're looking to buy a good booze cookbook, this one is worth a looksie -- just be sure to buy one on sale or used. It's definitely not worth the sticker price for the half-written recipes.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the title of this book doesn't cause you to raise an eyebrow or laugh out loud, then this is not a cookbook for you. On the other hand if you are curious about what could possibly be inside, this is one of the funniest and most interesting cookbooks I have seen in a while. The receipes seem pretty easy and everything is made from scratch. Each one gives you some variations and other ideas. Also, the icons to tell you about each reciepe are adorable. I love to look at cookbooks and I have to say this would be a great purchase for anyone you know that enjoys cooking and a party, or a great 21st birthday gift.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept but the execution is not so good. We tried the following recipes: English Trifle - the Buttermilk Brandy Shortcakes were a disappointment, Pink Champagne Cake - 50% of tasters liked it, Strawberry Daiquiri Shortcakes - Strawberry Mascarpone Fluff was delicious, the Strawberry Shortcakes however lacked taste & were soggy, probably due to the inclusion of fresh strawberries in the shortcake batter. We noticed that each dessert tasted much better if eaten the day after it was made allowing time for the flavors to blend.

[Victoria Horochowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm one of those people that reads a good cookbook front to back when I get it, to familiarize myself with all the recipies. I liked this book a lot because it has a lot of interesting recipes with many variations of both general ingredients and alcohols. Looking forward to the tres leches cake and the rum cake, which I've always wanted to try making. The explanations are to the point and fairly simple and most recipes have a picture to go with them. (Kindle edition.) Very excited and pleased with this book.

[Rena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting ideas. I have many family and friends that enjoy booze, and this is a great way to sneak in my love for baking at any gatherings. I really liked the way the cakes were rated as far as how much booze remains in desserts after cooking.

[Becky Koski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious, full of SO many good ideas, even charts that tell you how much booze is left in after baking and a booze-meter smiley face system to tell you how alcoholic each cake is. What's NOT to love?

[Whitaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really great book shows us how everything is great and worth to die for

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this book isn't what I was hoping for. There are some unique recipes, but following the directions some of the cakes don't turn out as expected. Other cakes just have the alcohol in the icing or put on at the end so the alcohol isn't being cooked out but still somehow doesn't provide the flavor I was hoping for. There are also not very many pictures, which is something I look for in recipe books.

[Roberta Chai (Lady with so many stories) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good because I found some recipes that involve alcohol just what I needed. But it is just the sweet stuff. I want to find where I can mix up a new drink or savoury foods with this. But I liked it but I'm still looking for more than what this has given me.

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yum...

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG-excellent recipes.

[J. Brook · Rating 3 out of 5]

THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR NOVICE BAKERS. Do not attempt any of these recipes without a cursory knowledge of baking. If you’re anything like me, you’ll waste more ingredients—and booze—than you would care to if you’re not already significantly practiced in the baking arts. I suggest you research techniques of similar cakes before trying anything because the writers of this book seem to leave out crucial steps.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally found this in my public library and checked it out repeatedly. Fortunately I found it at a used bookstore and snapped it up.
The mocha rum brownies are my go-to, and the brownies my kids have asked for over and over. Without or without frosting. The bourbon version is also delicious and slightly less bossy tasting.
I have done many of the recipes. The Tres leches cake is way, way too boozy. 1 cup of cacha (Brazilian rum) is too much .... not to mention that stuff can be like lighter fluid.
Rosé cakes were a little too sticky with the glaze.
Overall though, there are many gems in here. Especially if you like to cook or bake with booze.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made the Mexican Chocolate Cake with the Tequila Caramel Sauce, and it was really good. Most of the alcohol isn't in the cake itself, but in the sauce, which is smart because the alcohol would be cooked out of the cake and it wouldn't be alcoholic if you ate it. I want to try to make the Pink Champagne cake sometime.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulous cookbook! I copies several creations that I would love to try! There are also recipes for things like a "Death by Chocolate" cocktail, spiked whipped cream, flavored vodka, flavored sugar and much much more!

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have yet to make anything from this, but it was so fun to read that I have decided I must own it. I plan on making the Mudslide Cake for my mother's birthday in November (plain, booze-free cupcakes will be provided for her multitudes of grandchildren!).

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't wait to make some of these cakes. Most of them sounded and looked so good!

Update: I made the Peachy Keen Fuzzy Navel Cupcakes. Boy were they addicting! The sauce is really what pulled the cupcake together. So good!

[Mandy Hornsby]

Posted my experience with the "Pink Champaign Cake" recipe at...

http://mandynlaw.blogspot.com/2011/03...

I have really enjoyed this cookbook. It is a combination of traditional and nontraditional cakes with spirits.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great recipes and information regarding boozy confections. I plan on making:

*Green Tea and Banana Cake with Sake Syrup
*Bottoms Up Pineapple Tequila Cake
*Pumpkin Pomegranate Layer Cake
*Jagermeister and Honey Bundt Cake
*Champagne Layer Cake

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cake and booze. What more can I say?

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun cookbook but portions were inaccurate.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good sounding recipes in here- might change the review once I make one or two, but for now, I'm excited to try them out. Rosemary limoncello- how fancy does that sound?

[Karen Tompert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made a couple of things from this for our bus trip to New Jersey and they seemed to go over well. Lots of great sounding treats in here.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made the pina colada cake last night... so good! Love all the modifications for each recipe providing tons of options. There is something for everyone in here.

[Lynne]

I made mocha mud slide pie and it was easy and delicious! We'll try more !