The Victorian Book of Cakes by T. Percy Lewis and A. G. Bromley

"This title includes: recipes, techniques and decorations from the golden age of cake-making. It is a classic Victorian book by T. Percy Lewis and A.G. Bromley, brought to the modern reader with a foreword by Nicholas Lodge. Hand-tinted illustration plates of the finished cakes appear throughout the book, as well as close-ups of piping details. Notes for the modern reader have been included to assist today's baker in adjusting and adapting recipes, with tips on unusual equipment and archaic ingredients. It includes everything from making wedding cakes, gateaux and tartlets to piping lettering and making marzipan flowers. This nostalgic book will enchant all cake-makers, providing a fascinating source of baking and decorating ideas, as well as an insight into forgotten techniques. This book is a treasure from a golden age. Originally published at the turn of the century, during the heyday of cake-making, it was intended to become the standard work on cakes and confectionery, for use by both amateurs and professionals. There are recipes for all kinds of traditional Victorian cakes, biscuits and cookies, petits fours, shortbreads, pound and slab cakes, gingerbreads, marzipan and nougat, as well as a multitude of fillings, icings and frostings. The illustrations in the book are remarkable examples of the photographic techniques of the time; the original publishers claimed that the high-quality image work was unique, with 'every illustration reproduced from the actual cake'. The detail of the original volume has been preserved, resulting in a book to delight the eye and inspire the modern baker."

Hardcover, 22.4 x 2.8 x 29 cm, 248 pages, as new