Page 16 - Chocolate Cake Doctor

xiv C H O C O L A T E F O R T H E S O U L

cinnamon, coffee, yogurt, and myriad cakes—not from a bakery, but from
other ingredients to make them better: their own ovens. The most gratifying
cures for the otherwise common cake. part of writing The Cake Mix Doctor has
In this sequel I zero in on chocolate cake been helping these first-timers. In this
because so many of us are just plain chocolate book, too, there are recipes to
crazy about chocolate. Whether flavored build confidence. But, there are also
with sour cream, grated German choco- recipes to challenge.

late, puréed canned apricots, straw- It isn’t surprising that many from-
berry preserves, melted white chocolate, scratch cooks e-mailed me or pulled
crushed pineapple, coffee granules, me aside at a book signing and con-
Kahlúa, frozen raspberries, orange juice, fessed that they had contemplated try-
or other ingredients found close at hand, ing the “M” word, but they didn’t know
these chocolate cakes are magnificent. which mix to buy. I advise these more
And they don’t look or taste as if accomplished cooks to begin
l
they came from a box. with choco ate cake mix.
My mission remains the That’s because the choco-

same as in the first book: to late mixes, devil’s food in
help busy cooks find the time to particular, taste the least arti-
bake even when company is not com- ficial. It is easy to add a few key ingredi-
ing. And, to help people who have never ents, like sour cream and cinnamon,
baked a cake. In spite of what cooking and turn out fabulous cakes that will
teachers and many cookbook authors please the well-traveled palate. One
say, scratch cakes are not that easy to chapter in particular—Choco ate Cheese -
l
pull off. Many people never had a cakes, Pudding Cakes, and So Much
mother or grandmother close by to More—is perfect for these cooks. The
show them how to bake a cake. They Guatemalan Wedding Cake, Pear and
have never attended cooking school. Chocolate Terrine, Luscious Lemon
And yet they want to celebrate holidays White Chocolate Terrine, the roulades,
and special days with terrific-tasting and Key Lime Chocolate Cheese cake