Birthday Cakes or Club Cuisine

Birthday Cakes: Recipes and Memories from Celebrated Bakers

Author: Kathryn Kleinman

Exquisitely illustrated with more than 55 color photographs, Birthday Cakes features memorable, celebratory cakes and birthday stories by renowned chefs, cookbook writers, and passionate bakers -- including the likes of Julia Child, Alice Waters, James Beard, Alice Medrich, and Jim Fobel. This elegant yet easy-to-use cake-making book invites us to celebrate everything birthday: the making and presentation of the cake, the warm glow of the candles, the whispering of a wish, and the heartwarming ritual of cutting and sharing the cake. Everyone will enjoy oohs and aahs when a Meyer Lemon Pound Cake is served, a beautiful, sophisticated cake that can be decorated with glazed flowers and long French birthday candles. A fabulous three-day cake-making extravaganza for the truly dedicated is Gayle Ortiz's Princess Cake, a Swedish sweet-sixteen tradition. For happy smiles all around, there's a simple, delicious chocolate cake dressed in luscious frosting, just like grandmother used to make. Sprinkled with fun ideas and tips for decorating, this collection of cake recipes and personal birthday memories will inspire cakes so special friends and family will wish they had more than one birthday.

Publishers Weekly

Pretty to look at and brimming with inspiring ideas on throwing a proper birthday fete, Kleinman's book could be equally at home on a coffee table or in kitchen. The book features 38 recipes for birthday cakes, contributed by such notable cooks as James Beard, Alice Waters, Tasha Tudor, Patricia Wells, Julia Child and others. The cakes vary from traditional to unusual, so parents looking for a kid's birthday cake will delight in Birthday Cupcakes, German Chocolate Cake and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, while sophisticated chefs will be happy to find recipes for Aunt Frances's Ricotta Cheesecake and Beno t's Upside-Down Caramelized Apple Tart. Mini-essays by the contributors accompany each recipe, and a nostalgic theme runs throughout, as Robbin Gourley recalls her Aunt Florence's "prized and famous" Jelly Roll and Elizabeth Falkner recounts how her mother always made a Lincoln Log Cake because Falkner shares Abraham Lincoln's birthday. The recipes themselves are a mixed bag; generally, they're not very detailed and leave home cooks to figure out for themselves what instructions like "Roll the cake up with the edge of the paper" mean. The photographs and layout, however, are lovely. The Comforts Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese and Coconut Frosting is a pink and white fantasy; Grandmother's Chocolate Cake is divinely simple; and the Green Cake, with its shelled pistachios and light green icing, is exquisite. Kleinman (a food and floral photographer) and Miller (Chocolate; Espresso; Salt & Pepper) offer a picturesque meditation on an annual rite. (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Books about: Quick Fit or Vaccines

Club Cuisine: Cooking with a Master Chef

Author: Edward G Leonard

Recipes and cooking tips from the kitchen of one of the country's most exclusive clubs


Club Cuisine is the new, stunningly visual cookbook featuring Certified Master Chef Edward Leonard's dynamic club fare. It presents more than 150 recipes that, until now, have typically only been enjoyed by privileged members of private clubs. Inside, you'll find helpful hints and insights to create these scrumptious dishes, as well as inspiring photographs by renowned photographer Ron Manville, who has worked extensively with the ACF Culinary Team USA and other top chefs.

For serious chefs, Club Cuisine is a dream come true. Featured recipes include amuse-bouches, seafood, beef, and pasta dishes as well as delectable soups, salads, and sandwiches. Also included is a guest chef chapter featuring recipes from some of the top club chefs around the country that add to this impressive collection. Caterers and restaurant owners will also find complete seasonal menu items that have pleased distinguished diners at top private clubs.

For everything from a simple nosh to a hearty but elegant meal, Club Cuisine is the cookbook to keep at your fingertips.

Table of Contents:

	Preface	viii
	Foreword	ix
	My Philosophy of Cuisine	x
	Special Thanks	xiii
1	Breakfast the Elegant Way	1
2	Lunch	15
3	Salads	31
4	Main Plate Salads	45
5	Sandwiches	57
6	Appetizers, Hors d' Oeuvre, Amuse-Bouches	69
7	First Plates	89
8	Seafood	109
9	Beef	135
10	Beyond Beef	149
11	Pasta, Beans, and Rice	171
12	Pastry	187
13	Trilogy	205
14	Guest Chefs	219
15	Chef Leonard's Pantry	243
	About the American Culinary Federation	265
	About the Club Managers Association of America	267
	Certified Master Chef	269
	Index	271