Snacking cakes Simple treats for anytime cravings

Apt. 2B Baking Co. blogger Arefi follows up her debut, Sweeter off the Vine, with another homage to laid-back, seasonal baking. Arefi's collection of "snacking cakes" are single-layer cakes, baked in an eight-inch square pan, that have simple toppings (or none at all), and can be prepped in one bowl without the use of an electric mixer. The beauty in Arefi's unassuming recipes lies in their flexibility: she offers options for bakers to personalize their creations, from suggestions for alternate fruits, nuts, and flours to adapting the recipe to be made in a bundt, round, loaf, or cupcake pan. Flavor combinations are mostly traditional, with plenty of classic options for sweet tooths, including oatmeal chocolate chip cake and powdered donut cake, and bolder flavors with unconventional toppings, such as beet and orange glaze for a chocolate cake, and grapefruit glaze for a traditional gingerbread cake. VERDICT With 50 streamlined cake recipes, this little gem of a cookbook will quickly become a prized resource in many kitchens.--Kelsy Peterson, Forest Hill Coll., Melbourne, Australia

Introduction So, what exactly makes a cake a snacking cake? I certainly didn't invent the concept, and it depends a little bit on who you ask, but to me a snacking cake is a single layer cake, probably square, covered with a simple icing--or nothing at all--and it must be truly easy to make. It's a cake that makes an ideal breakfast to-go, wrapped in a paper napkin, and a perfect little sweet to have alongside coffee in the afternoon. These cakes are the kind of baking I love--they are low stress and don't require much besides a reasonably stocked pantry, a bowl, and a whisk. These aren't the kind of all-day project bakes you'll see on The Great British Baking Show; rather, they are humble everyday treats that can lift your spirit and satisfy your hunger for something sweet, at any time of day. These are the sort of cakes you can throw together after work on a weeknight with minimal effort, minimal time, and minimal mess. Snacking cakes can be cut into tidy little squares and tucked into lunch boxes or wrapped up in a sheet of beeswax food wrap to gift to a friend who has just moved into a new apartment, so they have something for dessert that night, and breakfast the next morning. They are the sort of cakes that help celebrate the large and small moments of life. Even if that moment is just making it through work on a Monday. These are also the perfect kinds of recipes for little hands to help with. Since everything basically gets thrown into the same bowl, if your tiny assistant gets overzealous and adds the ingredients a little out of order, nothing too terrible will happen, theoretically. . . . I've tried to hit every possible cake craving in these 50 recipes, from bright, citrusy olive oil cakes to fudgy chocolate ones, to fruit-and veggie-(yes, veggie!) packed cakes with seedy toppings and naturally technicolor glazes or fluffy frostings. There are lots of variations, too, and you have my full encouragement to make these cakes your own. You can combine the cakes and toppings in any way you see fit, and if glazes or frostings seem too fussy, these cakes are all perfectly delicious with a simple dusting of confectioners' sugar--or nothing at all. It's a simple luxury to bake a snacking cake for yourself or your friends and family. I hope this book inspires you to do it often, and with abandon. Excerpted from Snacking Cakes: Simple Treats for Anytime Cravings: a Baking Book by Yossy Arefi All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.