Martha Stewart’s Cake Perfection

The editors of Martha Stewart Living inspire in this sophisticated guide to cake making. Recipes run the gamut from simple pound cakes to more involved multilayer cakes, and each are accompanied by detailed instructions. Unfortunately there are no step-by-step images to help in assembling some of the more complex recipes, such as the eggnog semifreddo genoise, which boasts a vertically layered cake interior. The editors include “weeknight” cakes and one-layer cakes that can be made in a pinch, among them tropical pound cake, bourbon and berry brown-sugar cake, and no-bake blueberry ricotta cheesecake. A chapter devoted to cupcakes contains surprising recipes, like soft-serve peanut butter cupcakes with a hard chocolate shell, as well as matcha cupcakes with piped succulents. The book concludes with a collection of subrecipes for the frostings, fillings, and garnishes—passion fruit curd, candied citrus slices—used throughout. Serious home bakers will find much to expand their dessert repertoire. (Oct.)