Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache

ness_w

Has anyone used this cookery book. The reviews on Amazon are glowing so I bought a copy. The cakes look lovely but the writing style is extremely annoying, never mind though I thought and started off with carrot cake as a safe opener. It came out like a thick and very heavy pancake, nothing like the carrot cake I usually produce and took about twice as long to prepare. I am wondering whether to put this book down to experience and ebay it or if anyone has managed to make the recipes work?

tandraig

If you can make a better cake than them - ebay it!!! honestly i think some cookery book writers dont actually test the recipes out!! saying that - oven temps do vary - do you think yours may have been a little cooler than required or think that temp wouldnt have made any difference? and, if writing style annoyed me - i know i wouldnt use it again so would ebay it while still new-ish

Chris25

:rotfl:I thought this thread was going to asking for tips on stain removal

thriftlady_2

What ingredients are in the recipe? Did you accidently forget anything?

ness_w

No, I did it all right, though my tin was ever so slightly too big. The book replaces fat in recipes with various grated vegetables, something I didn't quite grasp the real time-consuming meaning of when I bought it. I think it will have to go as the writing makes me want to slap her, I just saw an instruction that said to mix the ingredients until they looked like 'a prude that has been told a rude joke'...for goodness sake! (Any thoughts on what that might actually mean?????)

thriftlady_2

ness_w wrote: »

No, I did it all right, though my tin was ever so slightly too big. The book replaces fat in recipes with various grated vegetables, something I didn't quite grasp the real time-consuming meaning of when I bought it. I think it will have to go as the writing makes me want to slap her, I just saw an instruction that said to mix the ingredients until they looked like 'a prude that has been told a rude joke'...for goodness sake! (Any thoughts on what that might actually mean?????)

Sounds jolly annoying. I must say I like my cakes to have fat, sugar, cream and preferably chocolate in them too;)

tandraig

your ingredients looked shocked???????????????? that book has to go hun!!!!!

thanks for the warning - I may have bought that book!!!

ness_w

Yep, straight to ebay I think. Now, what baking book to get as a replacement for a family of eight who wolf down cake in a split second?

tandraig

look on the other thread - your favourite cookery books and why - some really brill books with personal recommendations!

Ada_Doom

Yup, that sounds incredibly annoying! Sounds like the author is trying to hard to be quirky, which is not what you want in a cook book. You want somebody who loves food, like the divine Nigel Slater whose new programe is about to start...

tandraig

mary berrys ultimate cakes seem to get good reviews ness