Steak and Cake

Starred review from May 1, 2019
Everyone knows how to cook a steak, and the best cakes come from a bakery box, right? Karmel (BBQ&A, 2014) proves these assumptions more than wrong with these 100-plus recipes pairing, you guessed it, steak and cake. Throughout, she shares her expertise and knowledge of the culinary world, whether that means lessons from chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten and David Lebovitz or a deep-veined pr�cis, covering everything from cuts of meat to slick baking techniques. Dieters, step aside: every dish is decadent; every match of meat and sweet, delicious. Try beef tenderloin kebabs and Palooza cake walk, or cumin-rubbed flank steak and Tex-Mex chocolate sheet cake, for starters. She adds even more variety with accompanying variations after the initial duet has been presented, and includes more than a few secrets of the art, such as why steak knives matter and I don't think seasoning on the steak adds anything except visual appeal. Anticipate other forthright opinions and a pretty serious photographic glossary of steaks, each with names, muscle group, flavor intensity, texture, defining characteristics, prep notes, and approximate prices by dollar signs. Includes conversion tables.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)