Revising a ‘bible’ – heresy or heavenly?

Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible, 35th Anniversary Edition arrived on my doorstep a few days ago. My well worn original edition frequently gets pulled off the shelf for reference, so I was excited to see the updated version. I was a little nervous, however, because often the sequel to a hit is disappointing, and I worried that an attempt to update this classic might result in its essence being lost.

Reading the first few pages of the original The Cake Bible makes you realize just how special the book was at the time of its publication. The mentions read like a who’s who of culinary legends. It was edited by Maria D. Guarnaschelli, and none other than Maida Heatter wrote the forward. Rose mentions Shirley Corriher in her acknowledgements, as well as James Beard and Julia Child as being her first teachers. There are shoutouts to Mimi Sheraton and Bert Greene. There is no denying the impeccable pedigree behind this book.

The Cake Bible was game-changing in the genre because it provided weight measurements of ingredients (in both metric and US customary systems) alongside the usual volumetric measurements. It is difficult to overstate how huge this was, because outside of commercial kitchens, precious few people were weighing ingredients at the time. As Rose notes in her forward, she not only popularized weights in baking, she is also partly responsible for chocolate companies indicating their cocoa solids percentages on the packaging and for the development of the Thermapen. All of this raises the question: how does this updated edition stack up against its amazing, award-winning predecessor?

To begin the comparison, the revised edition is even heftier than the original, which is no slim volume. While the first book had grayscale pages with the exception of a glossy color section showing some finished cakes, the updated edition adds a splash of color onto the headings and callout boxes and has a larger photograph section. There are slight differences in layout as well, with the original having two columns per page; one thin column for notes and a wider column that contained instructions and a table (the brainchild of Rose’s late husband, Elliott) that lists volume and weight measurements for the ingredients. The new edition opts for a single column layout. The tables are now outlined with thin, orange-red separating lines which look lovely but are not quite as easy to read as the original black lines and bold print, but this a minor quibble. Overall, the new book is as straightforward as its groundbreaking parent but is more polished.

Rose updated many of the classic recipes after working with them for over 30 years, and the changes are well formulated. For instance, in the Classic Chocolate Chiffon, Rose amplifies the chocolate flavor by adding “synergistic” walnut oil and lightens the texture by adding egg whites. In addition to the recipe tweaks, the headnotes and “understanding” sections have been reworked. Some recipes now include variations such as how to change the recipe to make cupcakes. Recipes that include variations are noted in the index with an asterisk.

Speaking of the index, I rarely use a book’s index because, well, you know. However, Rose includes several useful lists with my favorite being the one that notes recipes by eggs used. You can see at a glance which recipes use all whites or all yolks, making it easy to use up any leftovers. You can do this with the EYB index, of course, but it’s a lovely touch that illustrates the comprehensive nature of this book; Rose considers all the details.

Other helpful lists include volumes of standard pan sizes, pan size swaps, and emergency substitutes. There is a section on ingredients and equipment and the book starts off with a cake primer that ensures even beginning bakers will be successful. Special effects and decorative techniques are still covered with line drawings as in the original. Back then, there were no YouTube or TikTok videos to watch for these techniques so this section may have had more meaning in the first edition, but it is nonetheless useful .

If you are looking to make large celebration cakes, there is no better resource than The Cake Bible. Rose provides tips, tricks, and recipes for tiered cakes to serve 150 guests along with a unique “Rose Factor Chart” for making different sizes of genoise or butter cakes so you can mix and match whatever size layers you choose. That is the kind of expertise you won’t find in your everyday home baking book and what makes this cookbook almost a textbook – but with Rose’s voice to keep it from being dry and lifeless, and including more handholding for the nervous novice. I used The Cake Bible to guide me through making my brother’s wedding cake. Many guests said it was the best wedding cake they ever had. The secrets to my success were baking with love, copious amounts of butter, and Rose Levy Beranbaum’s gentle instructions.

The biggest difference between the two Cake Bible editions is the addition of dozens of new recipes. There’s Mango bango cheesecake, Triple lemon velvet Bundt cake, Fran’s vegan chocolate torte to live for, and many more alongside the classics that made this book a bestseller, like Chocolate oblivion truffle torte, Cordon Rose banana cake, and Neoclassic buttercream. There is one more significant change to note: a co-author, Woody Wolston. Woody started out being Rose’s cookbook collaborator when she began writing Rose’s Heavenly Cakes in 2004. They corresponded between New York and Minnesota for several years, and in 2013, he moved east so that they could work more closely together. In 2021, Rose and Woody were married, and he was integral in the development of the revised edition of The Cake Bible.

All of this is a very long way of saying that not only is this book not heretical, it is a must-have for anyone who bakes cakes even occasionally. The amount of knowledge crammed into its 684 pages is staggering. The attention to detail is impeccable. As Rose explains in her foreword, when she wrote the first edition she was so determined to avoid production errors that she dictated the manuscript into a tape recorder and played it back against the typed version to “ensure that there wouldn’t be a single mistake.” Who can argue with that level of dedication?

As Jenny noted in her weekly recap, events are scheduled to promote this book and are available on our calendar. Also, check out the promotion along with details regarding a discount on Amazon right now!