One great cookbook: 'Snacking Cakes'
Modest baking with big impact


When you make a purchase using links on our site, The Week may earn a commission. All reviews are written independently by our editorial team.
Baking is a precise endeavor. It's also often a messy one. Assembling a cake when at the mercy of our perverse imperial measuring system entails a floury, sticky parade of cups, tablespoons and bowls. So blessed be a cookbook that demands the minimal amount of baking equipment necessary to achieve sublime results. "Snacking Cakes" by Yossy Arefi is a compendium of 50 affable recipes for a variety of simple cakes, each mixed in a single bowl and all capable of being baked in many kinds of pans.
Versatility simplified
Arefi's core thesis is that this style of cake should be "low stress" and "not require much besides a reasonably stocked pantry, a bowl and a whisk." Gone are the prototypical cake-baking instructions that tell you to whisk together the wet ingredients like butter and eggs in one bowl, stir the dry ingredients like flour and nuts in a separate bowl, then combine the two — often with many additional bowls or a piece of specialized equipment like a stand mixer hopping in from the sidelines.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Consider the Mostly Apples Cake. You begin by whisking for a good minute brown sugar and eggs until "pale and foamy." Then you add a neutral oil, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, whisking until emulsified. In next go the flour, baking powder and baking soda. More whisking. You pour this batter into your choice of a square, round or loaf pan, top with chopped apples and toasted walnuts. Bake. Cool. Snack.
This is the core formula for all the cakes in the book's four chapters, heavy with a breadth of tantalizing recipes: Fruit Cakes, with that Mostly Apples Cake, alongside Berry Cream Cheese Cake and Swirled Jam Cake; Warm and Toasty Cakes featuring My Best Carrot Cake and a Powdered Donut Cake; Chocolatey Cakes, with 13 variations on the theme; and Not Your Average Vanilla Cakes, the heaven birthday cake ascends to when it dies.
Lily gilding, if enticed
Many of the recipes in "Snacking Cakes" are standalones. No icings or garnish-fussing required. Yet nearly every recipe also includes a section on flavor variations. If you were feeling sprightly you could yank the cake in a new direction.
That All the Spices Cake could have its vanilla and nutmeg replaced with cardamom and black pepper to flick at chai masala. Or you could top the cake with a fudgy caramel topping or an effortless glaze of powdered sugar beaten with milk and maple syrup and instant espresso powder. And, because whipped cream is always welcome with every style of cake, Arefi ends the book with the Put Some Whipped On It chapter. Cocoa, freeze-dried fruit, orange blossom water, créme fraîche, honey: All the kids are playing in this billowy sandbox. Cake has rarely had it this good and never this simple.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Scott Hocker is an award-winning freelance writer and editor at The Week Digital. He has written food, travel, culture and lifestyle stories for local, national and international publications for more than 20 years. Scott also has more than 15 years of experience creating, implementing and managing content initiatives while working across departments to grow companies. His most recent editorial post was as editor-in-chief of Liquor.com. Previously, he was the editor-in-chief of Tasting Table and a senior editor at San Francisco magazine.
-
Can Soho House get its edge back?
Talking Point The private members' club has lost its exclusive appeal – but a £2 billion buy-out could offer a fresh start
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A human pyramid, a church on wheels, and more
-
The Week Unwrapped: Is it time for a new world map?
Podcast Plus, why is the pope getting flatmates? And why are seagull 'muggings' on the rise?
-
A descent into academic Hell, a ferocious feminist fable and the adult debut of a beloved children's author
The Week Recommends August books include R.F. Kuang's 'Katabasis,' Xenobe Purvis' 'The Hounding' and Louis Sachar's 'The Magician of Tiger Castle'
-
Critics' choice: Outstanding new Japanese restaurants
Feature An all-women sushi team, a 15-seat listening bar, and more
-
One great cookbook: 'Salt to Taste'
The Week Recommends Your roadmap to satisfying Italian home cooking
-
Broccoli and lentil salad with curried tahini and dates recipe
The Week Recommends Flavoursome and healthy, this creamy salad is perfect as part of a mezze
-
Spring greens and chickpea curry recipe
The Week Recommends This mouthwatering curry is quick to throw together
-
Critics' choice: Delights from the African diaspora
Feature Mahari in Chicago, Kabawa in New York City and Elmina in Washington, D.C.
-
Libraries are feeling the cost burden of e-book popularity
Under the Radar Certain states are working to change laws around e-book purchasing for libraries
-
Food trails are the best trails. Eat your way across the US with these 7 regional food journeys.
The Week Recommends Take a bite out of the United States