When I first came to consider how to compile and select a personal collection of 80 amazing cakes from all around the world, the task that was set out in front of me seemed almost impossible.
There were just so many delicious choices from so many baking traditions! How could I possibly narrow down a selection from all across the baking globe to just 80 cakes, when deep down inside me I knew that I could easily include three times the number. Well, the truth is I simply had to settle on those cakes that I truly loved and felt would convey the wonder of the vast variety of cakes to be found from across all the continents of the globe. Cakes that I could happily cook and eat time and time again. Cakes that gave a sense of wonder and travel and occasionally eccentricity. But always cakes that tasted exquisite and that would be received with hungry appreciation.
Some classics such as the French croquembouche seemed like they might be an insurmountable project for most so I combined it with the simplicity of the modern cupcake and the fun of constructing something that doesn’t take all day. I love the whimsical and the unexpected and I haven’t been able to resist giving a few of the cakes my own personal take and twists. They might not be completely true to the tradition with regard to technique or ingredients but they will, trust me, be every bit as delicious as the originals. Some might even think more so!
We now appear to live in a world where we are all meant to love to bake. And more and more of us do indeed absolutely love to bake. I have been a pastry chef for more than thirty years now and so I couldn’t be happier with the ever-growing love and fascination with the wonderful world of cakes and baking in general. And it is a world – a very wide world indeed! The cakes of France and Europe differ so very greatly from those sweet delights coming from the ovens of, say, Asia or the Middle East; different flavours and techniques bringing differing results but with one single unifying truth – they are all absolutely delicious to eat. I love the fact that cakes can incorporate flavours and ingredients as wide-ranging and diverse as almonds, walnuts and pistachios contrasting with cakes emitting heavenly scents of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg; cakes with luscious soft cheese, the finest honey, plumped juicy raisins, glutinous rice flour, sweet potatoes, pandan essence, the freshest of tree-picked fruits and let’s not forget those which are doused in the finest brandies, rums and wines of a locale. This is a world of passionate and creative bakers each creating a cake with their country’s most treasured produce, expertly crafted and sculpted. A global cake heaven. My heaven and I hope soon to be yours too!
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