Franzen Nicole - Simple cake: all you need to keep your friends and family in cake: 10 cakes, 15 toppings, 30 cake-worthy moments

Acknowledgments

It takes a village to write a cookbook. Heres mine.

Mikaela Martin, thank you for listening, brainstorming, laughing, having a deep understanding of my vision, and helping me bring this book to life. You wore many hats and brought your heart, empathy, and creativity to the project. Tony would be proud. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Nicole Franzen, your eye, talent, and heart have captured the spirit of this book beautifully. You always come with your sleeves rolled up, ready to raise the bar, and go above and beyond to make the best work possible. Suzie Myers, for seamlessly stepping in to help with props in the second inning. (Thanks, Jan.)

To my Ten Speed team, who have championed Simple Cake from day one. Hannah, Emma, Mari, Jane, Kristin, Aly, Windy, and Allison, I feel so privileged to work with such talented, kind women. Kelly Snowden, you have been the dream editor. Thank you for understanding what its like to have cake batter run through your veins. My wonderful agent, Kari Stuart, at ICM for the hug after our first meeting and continued support and belief since.

Anne White, for pressing play on Simple Cake . Marisa Dobson, for delivering the proposal pitch-perfect. Amy Chaplin, for mentoring me through the cookbook process. Brett Stiller, for your weekend baking, belly laughs, companionship, and support at all the crucial times.

Simon DArcy, for always being an inspiration in the kitchen and helping me narrow down, test, and refine the recipe selection. Joanna Keohane, for recipe testing so thoughtfully. Caren Tommasone, for your baking wisdom and flair on the second shoot. Mimi Demas, my talented intern, for turning up on day one with a baked cake.

Amy, Sean, Julia, Luke, and Jack Lyons, for being our Brooklyn family. Mark, Deb, and Isabelle DArcy, our other New York family. Thank you for having the door always open for our family and Simple Cake ! May we have many more meals and memories together.

Thomas Bossert and Melissa Rosenbauer, for the Espanyolet linens. Marissa Buick of Soor Ploom. Ingrid Carozzi and Tin Can Studio. Vikram and Meeru Vij, Hillary Bell, Susan Shapiro, and Emma Magenta.

To Mum, for making February and a few other months all about cake and being my biggest cheerleader and greatest role model. Jenny Williams, for loving dad and teaching me so much about baking. Charlene Conlin, Deborah Lloyd, and Claudia Lloyd Hensley. Matt Schneider, Rachel Geisler, Mira Gilchrist, Leslie Koren, Kazuho and Mei Ozawa, Tone Voke, Anita Menyangbo. To Dixie, Matilda, Opal, and Ned, who graciously shared me with cake for more than a year. And finally, to Nick: this is all for you.

About the Author

Odette Williams is an Australian who now calls Brooklyn home. She is an avid home baker and cake eater. She is also the founder of OW Brooklyn, a brand that believes slowing down and cooking and eating with loved ones is one of lifes simple pleasures worth investing in.

Over the years, she has experienced firsthand the highs and lows of cake baking like

The year her dad ambitiously tried to pull off making the coveted pool cake from The Australian Womens Weekly Childrens Birthday Cake Book. It was a round butter cake with green Jell-O on top and a perimeter of store-bought chocolate biscuits that contained the Jell-O. Sounds simple enough, right? Not so much. She woke in the middle of the night to hear her dad swearing like a trooper because the chocolate biscuits had not held up their end of the bargain, leaking Jell-O throughout the fridge. She can see him now, tired from staying up late baking, stressed from work and from juggling old and new wives, yet wanting to be a great dad. There he was, cigarette in mouth, on all fours, cleaning up the green slime in the days before there were paper towels.

Or the time the paper awning that framed her birthday cake caught fire, creating a cake inferno.

Or the occasion when she made her stepdaughter Dixie a cake shaped like a duck, and its head slid off as they all sang Happy Birthday.

Or the year when one of the kids was on a restricted diet, and she attempted to make a vegan cake that turned out like a bad crepe.

Or the night that she and a friend stayed up late making flags for a World Cup themed cake, taking far too many liberties with the flag designs.

Or the day she put too much baking soda in a cake, causing it to rise to dizzying heights and then collapsing in a crater.

Or the time her friends made a cake inspired by Mariah Carey and James Packers unlikely romantic interlude on a boat on the French Riviera. Lets just say there were two voluptuous mounds of cake, and it was messy.

A Flavor Chart

In Simple Cake, some combinations hum more than others, and not every topping goes with every cake. This charts helps guide you toward mixing and matching cakes and toppings

Ingredients

When a recipe has only five or six ingredients, like many in this book, you need them to be the best you can afford. Each ingredient has a specific role in the success of a cake.

FLOUR

Flour provides structure in a cake. I like to bake with various flours, but often the cake I bake is determined by the flour I have in my pantry. Each type of flour has its own protein content, characteristics, and weight that affect the cakes flavor and crumb. A specific flours qualities can also vary slightly from brand to brand.

If you are in the mood to experiment, some of the cake recipes in this book are robust enough to withstand an interchange of flours. The trick is to use the same weight of flour rather than volume in the substitution. See ingredient weights and measures (on back endpapers). For example, Ive successfully baked the Chocolatey Chocolate Cake () is also spectacular made with cake flour. Just be mindful that the baking times might be slightly different based on your flour selection.

All-Purpose Flour

This is your run-of-the-mill general use flour. Because it has a higher-protein content, its a sturdy flour. I usually buy King Arthur organic, GMO-free, unbleached all-purpose flour.

Cake Flour

With its low-protein content, this soft flour gets easily absorbed into liquids and retains moisture while producing a light, delicate, fine crumb. You might like to try cake flour in the Very Vanilla Cake (). Just make sure you put the same weight of flour in the cake. If you cant get your hands on cake flour, you can make your own similar ingredient by sifting together three parts all-purpose flour and one part cornstarch. I bake with White Lily or King Arthur flour.

Spelt Flour

Dont be intimidated by this up-and-coming ancient grain. Many bakers are discovering this gem of a flour, since its very light and has a nutty, wholesome air about it. I buy stone-ground, whole-grain spelt. Spelt still contains gluten but absorbs liquid easily, so gluten-sensitive people often find it easier to digest. If you want a healthier, nutrient-rich flour, spelt is an excellent alternative. Ive successfully substituted spelt in the Chocolatey Chocolate Cake ().