I have used Anny Byrn's other cake mix cookbooks over the years and this is her best one yet. There is a recipe for pretty much any cake you can imagine and each has the easy shortcut of using cake mixes or pudding mixes to get the batter started. It is a perfect book for those who are new to baking or those who don't enjoy fussing over tons of ingredients. I also appreciated that many of the recipes had beautiful color photos to accompany the recipes.

Anne Byrn's original The Cake Mix Doctor is a book I've always known about but never felt the need to own because I just couldn't see how saving myself a few extra measurements would be worth my time. Well, after reviewing her new book A New Take on Cake, I've changed my mind. This is a gorgeous book filled with delicious sounding cakes, all which look so much easier to put together on short notice. Dangerous, that! Using these shortcuts to make innovative cakes, including gluten free, vegan, microwave and all sorts of fun trendy cake items, can make quick bakes and baking with kids more possible.

A beautiful book with lots of different cake recipes. The recipes use "cake mix" but the frostings and glazes are from scratch. The photos are gorgeous!! I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is a new cookbook from The Cake Mix Doctor, and it is just as wonderful. If you can't find something in this book then you don't like sweets. This book includes cakes-pound, bundt and stack, cupcakes, muffins and cookies. And they all start with a cake mix!. Some people think that it is cheating to use a cake mix but nothing could be further from the truth. Cake mixes make a great foundation and they are really pretty good these days. It's the stuff you add to the mix that makes the cakes stupendous! Whether you are making a cake or some other treat for a special occasion or for a regular Monday night supper this book should be your go to book.

Do you bake or know someone for whom cake making is a passion? If so, be sure to put this title on your or their holiday gift list. I think that it will be adored by those who enter its pages. To begin, readers will salivate as they look at the photos. Next, find recipes for Mint Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cake; Chocolate Pistachio Ice Cream Cake; Hummingbird Cake with Roasted Bananas and many, many more-175 in all.

Readers and bakers who have seen books by Ms. Byrn know that she does not think that “cake mix” is a dirty term. I found that to be quite refreshing. I also note that, before getting to the recipes, much information is shared. As an added bonus, the recipes are easy to follow.

I highly recommend this compendium. Bakers, set your oven timers!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Oh my. I had no idea! The creativity and knowledge that goes into creating these cakes of beauty! I will say, my hands down favorite feature is the collection of thumbnail photos of every single recipe presented. It truly is possible to create these little slices of heaven right out of a box. Knowing I will not need to spend all day working on a recipe has me more inspired to try a few new things. I enjoyed the time of imagining and taste testing in my mind. Highly recommended for bakers of all levels who find themselves a little short on time but still desirous of deliciousness. I received a complimentary advanced copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own, freely given.

In this fabulous updated remake of The Cake Mix Doctor, the author offers a fresh new collection of cake recipes using modern techniques and ingredients such as coconut milk, tahini, plant butters and matcha. Her answer when asked, “why a cake mix” is to allow us to “bake and enjoy the ‘tangible events of life’ but spend all day doing it”.

In this cake book there are recipes to please anybody, including many yummy vegan and gluten free options. Some of the unique recipes that stood out were the decadent Deep South Strawberry Cake, a tart Limoncello Cake, a Melted Ice Cream cake, a stunning Neapolitan Loaf and even a Costco Cake! There are also recipes for cheesecakes, coffee cakes, cookies, bars, slabs and cupcakes including a recipe for Sweet Tea Cupcakes with Lemon Butter Cream, OMG! There’s also a recipe for Homemade Cool Whip! This cookbook is chock full of big, beautiful, mouthwatering photos. I imagine the hard copy of this book will be lovely enough that it could proudly grace a coffee table.

Thank you to Netgalley, Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press, and Anne Byrn for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This cookbook is very well organized and contains recipes that are very easy to follow. The cookbook also includes pictures for all of the cakes, which is a plus!

A New Take on Cake by Anne Byrn is off to a beautiful start is several pages of thumbnail photos depicting on the cakes found in the recipe section. When I saw the photos I was enchanted and looked forward to reading more about the recipes found in Byrn's updated cake cookbook. I was pleased to find many cake recipes that were created to work with updated cake mixes or diets.

Some of the recipes you'll find in her cookbook include;

New Fashioned Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
The Confetti Cake
Deep South Strawberry Cake
Little Yellow Birthday Cake
Lavender, Vanilla Blueberry Baby Cake
Chocolate Praline Cake

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley.

I loved the author’s first book The Cake Mix Doctor, but this new book, while still using mixes as the basis for delicious desserts, is much better.

Starting at the beginning it has a little index of thumbnail pictures of every recipe. The makes it so fast to look throughh and see the recipes you want to make. Secondly, it has gorgeous pictures of the cakes throughout, pictures that make you want to get up and bake! Finally, for beginning cake bakers, there is a section of wonderful, illustrated how-tos.

Along with inentive new recipes,the book takes many favorites from the original book and updates them to consider today’s smaller cake mixes. In addition, there are recipes for gluten-free and vegan cakes.

Even if you never make any of the glorious cakes, muffins, and cookies packed into the book, get it for the amazing frostings, fillings, and glazes. One of the keys to making a great cake from a mix is making homemade frosting. The huge assortmet of recipes and variations does not disappoint. I love them,

I love that the recipes are more adventurous, using many interesting flavors and flavor combinations.

A New Take on Cake by Anne Byrn is just what I need! Whether it be for pandemic baking, holiday celebrating or yummy gift giving, this book has it. The author has given us an updated version of The Cake Mix Doctor book and provides the reader with a wide variety of simple and fun recipes for sheet cakes, cupcakes, bundt cakes, layer cakes, etc. You will find some healthier alternatives to traditional recipes, as well as vegan and gluten free options. I look forward to baking the recipes I've bookmarked!
Thank you to NetGalley, Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a revamp of the old classic book. And I frankly love it!
Stunning images, with a modern take.
Easy to follow instructions and the best part is that it is less time consuming and same results as if dinne from scrath.

This is a modern cookbook from the author of the Cake Doctor books. I was hoping that she'd offer some recipes to make your own cake mixes if you don't want to buy them, but she still relies on mixes even though she then adds a bunch of steps and ingredients to most of them. She calls herself a feminist for this and seems to think she's somehow liberated women, but I avoid cake mixes because they are more expensive, less healthy and generally full of crap. I don't want to cook with cake mixes, even organic ones that cost the price of your average black market spleen.

I also need to cook gluten free for my kids and few of these recipes work for GF cakes even though they rely on purchased mixes, because GF mixes will perform differently. There are a few recipes that call for GF mixes, but again, I don't want to buy mixes. Most of the gluten free mixes list sugar as the first ingredient and rice flour as the second, which is gritty and has the nutritional content of finely shredded paper (actually worse, since that would have more fiber). I know that nobody makes cakes to cook healthy, but I do prefer to skip the absolute garbage that is in your average cake mix. Propylene Glycol Mono and Diesters, anyone? Eh. No thanks.

All that said, it's filled with very pretty cakes and all kinds of variety. There are a ton of cakes and lots of photos. No nutritional information is provided.

This obviously is not a great cookbook for me but it's likely to be a huge hit with the average busy Standard American Diet cook, and I appreciate that Byrn has included some recipes and information for those who cook gluten free, vegan, egg-free, etc. Three stars for "liked it" despite the fact that it's not a book I'd really use.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for this ARC!
Especially because I LOVED this! Such a good update, I love taking into account the smaller sizes of cake mixes, and I especially love vegan and gluten-free options! I will need my own copy of this.

A New Take on Cake is a baking book that uses cake mixes as the foundation of each recipe. To be honest I found it quite off putting and a bit pointless as most of the recipes were still quite complex so it didn't feel as though you were saving much time and effort. It is much more effort to go and buy cake mixes than to bake naturally from scratch. I can understand that a lot of people will be inspired by baking this way but it doesn't feel right for me. Some nice pictures and ideas and a lovely book to browse through.

What a fun book! First and foremost, the photos are gorgeous and I love that a lot of the cakes explored in the book are shown right up front. The images are inspiring and get you excited to dig in and make some cake!

The concept with this book is using cake mix to simplify the home baking process, but using what you have in your pantry to make it much more special. Overall, this book has a lot of range - you’ll find recipes for sheet cakes, Bundt cakes, mini cakes, layer cakes, cheesecakes…the list goes on. The author has done an amazing job of providing a never ending variety of options while empowering any baker of any level.

A few standout cakes for me: little brown sugar grapefruit cake, baked Alaska baby cake, melted ice cream cake, pumpkin skillet crumble, and chocolate marbled tiramisu.

This book is wonderful and I would recommend it for anyone who loves to bake, wants to love to bake, or loves cake.

I love cake, eating it, baking it and sharing it. This recipe book is a catalogue cake, all types and sizes of cake, all flavours and colours. It is the most delicious cookbook I have read lately.

Starting with the Table of Contenst all the photos of cake makes it hard to decide which recipe to try first. But first you need to read through the valuable information on cake tins, tools, batters, preparations and decorating. I love all the photos and can't wait to try some of the recipes which go from basic to very decadent.

This is the cake book for the passionate baker so get in there and get cooking. I will be.

Such a sweet cookbook, filled with all kinds of baked things to make by doctoring up cake mixes to come up with something much better. I saw quite a few that I want to try for family birthdays, holidays etc. There is also a lot of information on how-to’s, like changing baking times for different types & sizes of pans, and various substitutions. It’s just filled with a lot of neat ideas and information. I especially liked the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cake. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Anne Byrn, and the publisher.

“A New Take on Cake” was done by the Cake Doctor, who uses cake mix to make the recipes of cakes found in this book. If you are looking for a bake from scratch, this book is not for you. All the recipes have pictures. However, if you are looking for cake recipes that are delicious and can get done a little faster than bake from scratch recipes then go ahead. I do like to bake from scratch mostly, so all my cookbooks move from that point, however, I do have one book that is for doctored recipes from cake boxes and this book would make a nice second. The only negative observation is that the book has an old-school vibe, I don’t know ho to understand it but it does, but I can ignore that since I do love that all the recipes have a picture.

This book is a great edition for the new baker or busy person. It has some lovely ideas that elevate ‘boxed’ cake mixers.