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    Taking the Cake: Your Ultimate Cake Guide
    Taking the Cake: Your Ultimate Cake Guide
    Taking the Cake: Your Ultimate Cake Guide
    Ebook104 pages54 minutes

    Taking the Cake: Your Ultimate Cake Guide

    By Regina McRae

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    About this ebook

    Written primarily for the ethnic bride, whether of African-American, Hispanic, Caribbean, Asian or Native American descent, but also perfect for any other bride desiring a culturally inspired creation, the humorous, informative style will help guide her thru the arduous task of bringing the wedding cake of her dreams from concept to reality. She will get time proven tips on how to choose a baker, get a contract, prepare a cake budget, and ultimately design that dream.

    Not a bride, just love to bake? Chocked full anecdotes, and the recipes that led to my success, from being NY Magazines Editors Pick 5 years running, NY Daily News Critics Choice for desserts in New York, Nickelodeon's Parent's Pick, and a Food Network Challenger on Sweet Genius and Rewrapped, just to name a few, this book is also a must have for each of you, from the casual to the serious baker. From Northern standards to Southern delights, I've even included delectable diabetic and vegetarian cake recipes.

    The first book of its kind, ranked No. 1 on Amazon.com, and other major internet book sellers, there's something here for everyone.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateNov 1, 2011
    ISBN9781463448448
    Taking the Cake: Your Ultimate Cake Guide
    Author

    Regina McRae

    Regina McRae, founder and owner of Grandma’s Secrets, New York's only dessert delivery company, began baking when at the age of 8. She started this company in 1994, at the urging of friends, with just $10 and 9 pies. She parlayed those humble beginnnings into a national and international clientele, making creations for the likes of Tommy Hilfiger, Heavy D, Joan Rivers, Steve Harvey, Luther VanDross, BB King, Geraldo Rivera, Mary Louise Parker, Louie Vega and Freddy Hubbard, to name a few. She was named New York Daily News Critics Choice, and honored as Editors Pick by New York Magazine 5 years running. She has been in the New York Post, New York Times, Time Out New York, Modern Baking, and Black Enterprise and O Magazine, and featured on The Today Show, Good Day New York, New York 1 News, MTV, Moscow Culture TV, New Jersey Access TV, and Fox 5 News. She was honored in 2009 as a Nickelodeon Parent's Pick. Having been chosen by Google as an example of small business success for their marketing campaigns in 2007 and 2008. She has been a Food Network Challenger twice, Sweet Genius in 2012 and most recently on their hit show Rewrapped. After years of teaching baking classes, she chose to "share the secrets" with everyone, hence this witty and informative guide to baking and designing your cake. Please visit her website www.grandmasecrets.com for more information about the company.

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      Book preview

      Taking the Cake - Regina McRae

      © 2011 by Regina McRae. All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      First published by AuthorHouse 08/30/2011

      ISBN: 978-1-4634-4845-5 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4634-4844-8 (ebk)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2011914096

      Printed in the United States of America

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Contents

      Forward

      INTRODUCTION

      CHAPTER 1

      BUYING THE CAKE

      CHAPTER 2

      CHOOSING THE CAKE CREATOR

      CHAPTER 3

      CREATING THE CAKE

      CHAPTER 4

      DESIGNING THE CAKE

      CHAPTER 5

      PHOTO GALLERY

      CHAPTER 6

      WORKSHEETS

      Forward

      Whether using an event planner, or navigating the internet for services, planning a wedding can be one of the most stressful events in your life. Deciding on your wedding style, finding a location for the ceremony and reception, making the guest list, finding just the right invitations, planning the menu, designing your wedding gown, picking the wedding party, and a thousand other details are enough to scare even the most audacious bride. Too often brides have called me when their wedding was only two or three weeks away. At this point, they were worn out, and had expended so much energy on everything else on their to-do list, the cake had slipped through the cracks. Not a good place for a cake to be!

      Most brides do not understand how complex choosing a cake can be. A bride must decide which flowers she wants, and then choose between sugar flowers and live flowers; then between fondant or butter cream for an icing; then how many tiers, and what flavor cake and fillings. And all of this is after she has chosen a style! The appointment with the baker can be overwhelming, especially when words like marzipan and gum paste are thrown at you. Yet every detail is important. Your wedding cake is the centerpiece of your décor, and next to you and your husband, the most important feature at the reception. Nothing should be left to chance.

      The first book of its kind, this book will explain everything you need to know in order to design your wedding cake. Whether it is a traditional church wedding, a jumping the broom ceremony, or anything in-between, I will detail what you need to know, and even supply recipes for favorites to be used in the cake of your dreams. Being armed with terminology, and knowledge of what to look for when choosing the cake, will de-mystify the journey and make the road smooth.

      Here’s to Taking the Cake!

      1.jpg

      INTRODUCTION

      Making the Cake

      I have loved to bake all of my life. When I was a little girl, I would beg my grandmother to let me know when she was going to bake, so I could come over and help her. Nothing was as gratifying as being in her Brooklyn kitchen, smelling the cinnamon, yeast, and butter from her pies. I would break open the coconut, and grate it for her coconut layer cake. I would peel the peaches for her peach cobbler, and then suck on the pits. And, of course, I would peel the sweet potatoes for her famous sweet potato pie. Watching her, I learned each recipe by heart. There was no written recipe, and the ingredients were measured by hand, such as a cup of flour was a handful, and a teaspoon of salt was a pinch. By the time I was 8 years old, I could make several varieties of pies and cakes, all of course under the watchful eye of my grandmother. Whenever I would ask her why she did something, such as put butter into her crust, or grate a lemon to add the juice and rind to her pies, she would explain to me Baby, the secret to a good pie is a good crust, Baby, always add lemon to fruit to bring out the sweetness I loved the lessons as much as the desserts.

      Something else amazing happened when I was 8, which further shaped my desire to bake. I met my great-grandmother, who had been born into slavery. The mother of my grandfather, she was 103 at the time, and she regaled me with stories of being born on the plantation. Slaves were emancipated when she turned 3 years old, and she then grew up during reconstruction. They were free,

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