Something Just for Fun…and Yummy Too!
If you love to bake cakes, you need to check out this book. I bought Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes in January after reading about it on a cooking blog, www.smittenkitchen.com. I was searching for something different for my mother-in-law’s birthday cake and actually ran out to Barnes and Noble right after reading the review to purchase it. It became a joke in my family as to what 3 layer cake I would be bringing to family functions. Every cake I have made (and I’ve made a lot of them) has been delicious! The directions are easy to follow and I have even learned to make real buttercream.
The story continues…During our Spring Break trip to Nashville, TN, my husband and I were visiting The Loveless Cafe, a famous, quaint 
restaurant I had read about. (I like to read about food too…not just books)! Imagine my surprise when I noticed a newspaper clipping about my favorite cookbook and its author hanging in the hallway. Intrigued that this clipping would be at this restaurant, I bent down to read it more carefully. THE AUTHOR WAS THE PASTRY CHEF AT THIS RESTAURANT!!! I rushed back to tell my husband…I couldn’t believe my luck! To make it even better, she came out and met us. This was better than seeing Dierks Bentley on stage at 
The Grand Ole Opry!!
A friend of mine went to Nashville this week and she kindly took my crumb coated cookbook with her to get it signed. I just got it back from her, happy that Alisa Huntsman is a good sport and doesn’t think I’m some kind of stalker.
So far, I’ve made Sour Cream Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting (chocolate crumbs are sprinkled all over this page), Triple Fudge Cake, Vanilla Bean Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream, Southern Coconut Cake, Sky-High Strawberry Shortcake, Triple Decker Boston Cream Pie, Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with Fudge Frosting, Apricot Carrot Cake, Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Caramel Filling, Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake, Pina Colada Cake (made this for book club tonight), Orange Grand Marnier Cake, Black and White Park Avenue Cake, Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, Ice Cream Birthday Cake and next will be Chocolate Raspberry Cake. There are more I want to try (Key Lime Cake with Mango Curd, Dulce de Leche Cake).
Alisa wanted the recipes to be easy to follow for the home cook. I would say that she succeeded. My 14 year old has made several of the cakes unassisted. The photography is beautiful – a must for me in my cookbooks. I like to see what the finished product is supposed to look like.
So, if you like cake, and you like to try something different, check out this book. You will not be disappointed!
