2024 the best moist chocolate cake recipe review

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James Beard Award–winning writer Aleksandra Crapanzano shares the secrets of the cakes Parisians bake at home, from the simplest yogurt cakes to a deceptively easy bûche de Noël, from yuzu madeleines to boozy flourless chocolate confections.

When we think of French desserts, we tend to imagine ornate creations and confections. Perhaps we envision a tarte Tatin, but rarely a homemade cake, whipped up on a weeknight with little fuss. But that is exactly what Parisians make and eat. Gâteaux are simple, delicious cakes, both sweet and savory, served to family and friends.

As food-columnist Aleksandra Crapanzano spent time in Parisian home kitchens, she realized that the real magic is a certain savoir-faire, that distinctly French know-how that blends style and functionality in every aspect of life. By and large, the French do not try to compete with their chefs, nor with their boulangeres and patissieres. But many Parisians are natural cooks, and most finish dinner with a little something sweet, effortlessly made and casually served. The trick is having an arsenal of recipes that, once mastered, become blueprints, allowing for myriad variations, depending on what’s in season and what’s in the cupboard. It is a practical approach, and the French are nothing if not practical. That is the savoir-faire—from tying a silk scarf just so to popping a gateau in the oven without anyone even noticing. When you know what you’re doing, there’s no need to overthink it. It looks easy because it is easy.

While the Paris culinary world is experiencing a fresh vibrancy, certain traditions remain intact yet may surprise in their modernity. For example, French cakes have less sugar. The pure taste of apples is not masked by cinnamon, and vanilla is never a given. A gateau may be lightly glazed, dusted with cocoa or confectioners’ sugar, drizzled with rose water, but rarely heavily iced. A splash of brandy, a squeeze of lemon or a thin blanket of ganache elevates even the easiest of cakes in mere minutes. And then there are savory cakes made with cheese, herbs, ham, baked into a delicious loaf. These cakes salés are ideal for picnic lunches, accompanied by a salad and a glass of Sancerre. Gâteau includes cakes for birthdays, summer feasts and winter holidays, last-minute dinner parties and school lunches, as well as beloved regional recipes and guest contributions from superstar Parisian bakers.

Practical, simple, and filled with over 100 rigorously tested recipes and charming illustrations, Gâteau celebrates every day and sometimes fanciful French cakes in all their glory.

From the Publisher

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner; First Edition (September 27, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1982169737
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982169732
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.3 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.38 x 1.2 x 9.13 inches
Reviewer: Alexandra Quinn
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: User friendly for all cooks!
Review: Highly recommend! Im a much better cook then baker. So far all of the items I’ve made have been easy to make and delicious!!! Friends and family have adored the sweet and savory cakes! Must buy. Charming and useful information, vignettes as well.

Reviewer: Joby Hughes
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Fantastic Book
Review: I wanted to learn how to bake a few types of French cakes this year. So I had a research file at the end of last year. Then I found this book. I've never looked at my research file.It is incredibly well-written, the recipes are well tested and done. The grouping of the types of cakes is thoughtful. Yogurt cakes in one section, regional cakes in another, and so on.A French friend who is a great baker and who, in part, inspired me to learn these skills ate a couple of my cakes at dinner parties. She liked them so much that she bought the book and now regularly cooks out of it.

Reviewer: G1354
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: if you love baking you'll love this
Review: I love baking no-nonsense recipes like Tollhouse cookies and I also love the challenge of a really complicated, precise cake or dessert recipe that looks impressive and tastes great. The recipes in this book are in a whole different world - a 3rd dimension, a parallel universe. They're not complicated, in fact they're simple, but neither are they what most of us in the US would regard as everyday baking in the sense that each in their own way these cakes taste more exotic or more subtle than regular everyday recipes. Everything I've made from this book has turned out great. Also unlike most cake recipes, there are a bunch of recipes here that lay out options - they give you set parameters you can change to personalize a recipe to your own taste which exponentially increases the number of receipes. I bought this for myself but it would make a great gift for someone who loves to bake.

Reviewer: Peter Shrosbree
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great book. Occasional errors
Review: Most recipes work perfectly, and create excellent cakes. The recipe for Gâteau au Gianduja (p. 110) gets you to melt chocolate and butter in a bain-marie, but never includes this in the cake. I assume it is added to the batter before the whipped egg whites, but I added it after incorporating the eggs whites (because this was the point at which I noticed the error). An errata page on the Web would be great.

Reviewer: MWhited
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: THE BEST cake cookbook!! BUY. THIS. BOOK!
Review: I’m a good amateur baker and have collected cookbooks for decades. This is the best cookbook on cake bar none! Moist, easy to prepare, accurate instructions ( one reviewer found a mistake. I’ve made four cakes, completely followed the directions with excellent results), numerous variations, not too sweet, like European cakes. Emphasis on flavor and texture of the cake itself. Accompany w a dollop of creme fraiche, slightly sweetened whipping cream, dusting of powdered sugar, a cup of tea, coffee or Sherry. The problem: as soon as I finish one, I want to make another. I keep nibbling. So delicious. Have recommended this book to countless others. No photos, doesn’t need it. Fun, expressive writing style.

Reviewer: Mitch G
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good writing!!
Review: You ate that, the dolls ate the wig hunty shook the house boots, I live for that!!

Reviewer: Sfarabella
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Title Says It All!
Review: Gâteau The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes by Aleksandra CrapanzanoAleksandra Crapanzano’s London Cookbook- with its enticing recipes from London restaurants was my introduction to her writing. The title of her newest, “Gâteau, The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes” is an apt description. Most cakes are unadorned, the type you’d serve with a cup of tea or have on hand as an after-school treat. So far, I have made Gâteau à la Cardamome p.44; Un Grand Gâteau à l’Orange p. 62; and Cake Croque Monsieur p. 290. The Orange cake, made in a bundt pan, has an excellent crumb with the delicious orange syrup adding more flavor. If you are a fan of cardamon, you will enjoy this loaf pan cake – my 5-year-old granddaughter passed on this after detecting that “foreign smell” while her 9-year-old brother asked for seconds. The Cake Croque Monsieur is an interesting riff, to be enjoyed with a glass of wine or cut a generous slice to accompany luncheon salad. Many of us lead such busy lives that baking a cake seems out of reach. I recommend you try one of Aleksandra’s – eating a homemade cake is special and if you have children you will share memories by making one of her cakes together.

Reviewer: sn
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Surprisingly delicious
Review: If you love cake (not to be confused with high-end patisserie, an exacting art form in itself ) you will love this book. The recipes are carefree, elegant and, as far as I can tell so far, flawless. The author writes beautifully about different types of cakes, sometimes presenting master recipes with many (fascinating!) variations. The weights and measurements are not stated with consistent numerical accuracy, but given the types of cakes they are, it doesn't matter. I know what you're thinking - that cannot be! But it is.So far I have make the a simple yogurt cake, a dinner party yogurt cake with orange and Grand Marnier, an apple clafoutis and an apple and rum cake - all absolutely delicious and quietly spectacular.These are cakes to make and share at home, with friends, at the office. I think this is a book to treasure.

Reviewer: BW
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is a fabulous book for real home cooks. For people who just want to drool over pretty pictures, this isn’t for you because there aren’t any. But if you want to develop a repertoire of easy, foolproof desserts, this book will become a well-used reference.The reviewer who gave this book a poor review and complained about the measurements (lack of them in their opinion) was either mistaken OR didn’t bother to read the book. The author explains exactly what she means by a “jar”: it’s a yogurt container available in France. Then she also gives a weight and a measure so that North Americans can recreate the recipe here. She even explains exactly what kind of yogurt to purchase. I had no trouble at all making that particular cake and it got rave reviews from my guests.It’s a wonderful book; highly recommend.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Reading the recipes made me want to eat cake and lots of it. I cannot wait to try them out but will need to expand my pantry items a little to make them, by e.g. buying French butter, as recommended, which is currently very expensive in the UK (I am sure the cakes will be worth it though from a flavour aspect).

Reviewer: Mara Swen
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: It's a nice enough book and the recipes are lovely, but the measurements are an unholy mish-mash of metric and Imperial. Baking temps are universally in Fahrenheit, and measurements are sometimes in grams but inconsistently so (egg weights are mentioned twice but cup or tablespoon sizes are not). I don't want to pay a premium hardback price when I've got to sit down with Google and re-write a recipe so that it works in Australia.

Reviewer: Larissa
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I adore this cookbook. Have made several cakes now, all to great acclaim. They’re simple and quick to prepare and delicious. Some of the cook times have been off, but that’s easily addressed with a check. excellent, honest, delicious recipes - a lot of fun.

Reviewer: Peter Cox
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: First impression, great cake book, so much choice.So far I have only baked one, following the recipe precisely yielded a beautiful tasty cake. And I see at least a dozen more I want to do soon. I think it will become my standard go-to cake book.My only complaint, and it is a pity, there are no photographs. I mean none!Looking for ideas or inspiration I like to flick through a cookbook and photos make that so easy and quick. Plus a photo gives you some confidence that somebody has actually cooked/baked it.