All About Cake

Tosi, chef and owner of Milk Bar bakeries, showcases her bubbly personality and an enjoyable collection of cake recipes in her lovely third cookbook. Her anecdotes, like confessing to disliking cake as a child (“To me, cake was really a vehicle for a frosting fest”), are as fun as her sweet and savory flavor combinations, such as compost pound cake made with chocolate chips and potato chips, banana green curry pound cake, and popcorn layer cake with a salted caramel filling. However, there are some flavor combinations that slightly miss the mark, such as a celery root pound cake with pickled celery and a pancake layer cake with miso curd and black pepper butter. Fortunately, there are plenty more delicious recipes, including several from Milk Bar, such as double-layer birthday cake, strawberry-lemon cake truffles, and dulce de leche layer cake. Other recipes, most notably the cherry cola bundt cake, oatmeal-apple-brown sugar microwave mug cake, and creamsicle Crock-Pot cake, are inspired by her childhood. Tosi writes for beginners looking to make simple bundts and experienced bakers who could take on wedding cakes alike. Anyone who bakes regularly and is eager to try something new will want to take a look. Agent: Kim Witherspoon, InkWell. (Oct.)