Today is the sweetest day of the year! For it is International Cake Day, a day where we celebrate the yummy magic of cake.
So here I am, celebrating with a blog fully focused on cake! Whether you're new to baking, a seasoned baker looking for a challenge or just want more cake recipes (you can't ever have enough), you're going to love these cookbooks!
As Alisha Henderson says, 'Life is short – so bake, share and eat the cake!'
No title necessary!
Everybody Loves Cake
Alisha Henderson
I love cake, you love cake, everybody loves cake! So, obviously I had to start this blog off with Everybody Loves Cake!
You may recognise Alisha Henderson as the founder of Sweet Bakes in Richmond. Henderson dedicated more than a decade to gaining an understanding of what makes a good cake truly glorious, and to perfecting recipes for the ultimate joy-filled bakes. Now you can put her recipes to the test with Everybody Loves Cake!
These are Henderson's very best cake recipes, from classics to showstoppers. There’s something for every occasion and celebration, all beautifully photographed and accompanied by her uplifting stories about the people closest to her and their favourite cakes.
For the creative and colourful bakers
Mali Bakes
Patti Chimkire
Mali Bakes is another beloved Melbourne institute, best known for their retro designs and bold flavours. Mali Bakes founder, Patti Chimkire has brought the vibrant colours of Thailand to Melbourne, and her cakes and desserts playfully infuse the two cities' colours and artistic sensibilities.
Now get ready to embark on a journey through cake making, the Mali Bakes way. In this cookbook, you will be introduced to different cake-making methods and decorating finishes, to learn how to make and pipe perfect decorations with buttercream. Mali Bakes is your ultimate guide to baking and decorating the cakes of your dreams! And is a delightful celebration of colour and baking that proves that cakes can be fun and full of flavour.
For the plant-based bakers
Beyond Baking
Philip Khoury
Whether you've been curious about one or are already following a plant-based diet, or if you just want to try some plant-based baking, then this one is for you!
In Beyond Baking, award-winning pastry chef Paul Khoury ups the ante on plant-based baking, with sweet and savoury recipes that use simple, natural, plant-based ingredients. These recipes are the result of years of rethinking everything – what gives structure, what builds richness, what creates lift and tenderness – without relying on eggs, dairy, or highly processed alternatives. Instead, they use familiar, natural ingredients to achieve results that feel completely fresh: croissants that shatter, cakes that stay tender for days, savoury pies that could hold their own in any bakery window.
Beyond Baking invites you to look again at what baking can be when it’s not copying what came before, but creating what comes next. You can also discover more of Khoury's recipes in A New Way to Bake.
For something tried and tested
Baking and the Meaning of Life: How to Find Joy in 100 Recipes
Helen Goh
You may recognise the name Helen Goh from the front cover of some of your favourite Ottolenghi cookbooks like Sweet and Comfort. Now Goh has gone solo with her own hotly anticipated debut cookbook, and it certainly doesn't disappoint! Take a look at how the Readings team went tackling the recipes from Baking and the Meaning of Life on our blog here (spoiler: Helen herself was impressed!).
No one knows the 'why' or 'how' of baking better than Helen Goh, recipe developer, food columnist and practising psychologist. In Baking and the Meaning of Life, Goh draws on her upbringing in Malaysia and Australia, her acclaimed work with Yotam Ottolenghi and her psychology training to share her distinctive approach to baking with 100 delicious sweet and savoury bakes.
For distinctly Australian bakes
Modern Australian Baking
Christopher Thé
Although Readings is Melbourne based, I couldn't focus on just Melbourne establishments! So of course I'm including Sydney's Christopher Thé, founder of Black Star Pastry and creator of the strawberry watermelon cake (the world's most Instagrammable cake).
In Modern Australian Baking, Thé offers a masterclass in cakes, breads and pastries that are defined by the Australian landscape and its distinctive produce. The book includes more than 80 sweet and savoury recipes that are suitable for anyone who is new to this style of baking, but will also inspire more skilled cooks and bakers. This is a cookery book intimately rooted in place, uniquely Australian, and crafted for a sustainable future.
For the nostalgic bakers
Children’s Birthday Cake Book
Australian Women's Weekly
I couldn't write a cake blog without including Australia’s most famous children’s cake book! What a delight it was as a child to pore over the pages of the AWW Children's Birthday Cake Book to decide which cake my poor mother would have to spend hours creating for my birthday that year! Thankfully, it's back in circulation in both this collector’s edition and a 40th Anniversary hardcover Edition.
Since it was first published in 1980, the AWW Children's Birthday Cake Book has sold more than half a million copies and created many more memories! So get baking to recreate your favourite cakes, from the duck cake with its potato-chip beak, to the jelly-filled pool cake and cover-worthy train cake!
For the 'just a little sweet treat' seekers
A Little of What You Fancy
Dee Omole
Are you in the mood for a sweet treat but not an entire 3-tier cake or 30 of the same cookie? Well then this little pink book is for you! The recipes are tailored to small batches that also require minimum effort, basic equipement and easy to aquire ingredients. But don't worry, that doesn't mean you'll be sacrificing taste or that 'wow' factor! Dee Omole's elegant style combines diverse flavours in intriguing ways. These treats are all easy enough for a mid-week treat for one, but special enough to serve as a dinner party treat.
With easy-to-follow instructions, A Little of What You Fancy is full of achievable and indulgent bakes to satisfy your cravings – and with little to no waste (or leftovers!). There are also decorating tips and tricks to help you elevate your baked creations to new heights, making them the perfect handmade, edible gift for loved ones.
For those who can't pick just one author's cookbook
The Baker’s Book
Edited by Ruby Goss
Can't pick just one author's cookbook? Want a variety of recipes from a variety of bakers? Then this one is for you.
'We love to bake. We give you what our hands and ovens have wrought because we want you to feel good. We are telling you we love you.'
– Natalie Paull, Beatrix Bakes
The Baker's Book is a collection of recipes for bakers, by bakers. Ruby Goss has ambitiously brought together more than 30 of Australia's best – from pastry chefs to home bakers to community bakeries – to share the recipes that bring them joy. The result is this glorious compendium, filled with 60-plus fully photographed recipes, from special occasion bakes to small anytime pleasures to savoury treats and life-changing desserts. Served alongside are generous offerings of kitchen wisdom that remind us why we bake and how many life lessons can be found in this craft.
