James McNair's Cakes
17687r.html to 0811817687-17687r.html : Thu Feb 15 18:11:50 PST 2001In terms of down-home appeal,James McNair's Cakescan't be beat. Reading this book feels like nothing so much as sitting around a Formica kitchen table, swapping recipes for a church supper or a ladies' lunch. While McNair knows how to dazzle (check out the Molten Chocolate Babycakes garnished with gold leaf), it is the generous way he reinvents the classics—spiking a carrot cake with preserved ginger, and laying caramelized bananas atop a crème fraîche-enriched bananas Foster cake—that wins the heart and makes us eager to revisit old favorites.