CAKE: A Slice of British Life

Despite his surname, Andrew Baker is a dedicated and discerning consumer of cake and Publishing Editor of the Telegraph. He takes cakes very seriously. We hold strong opinions about how to bake a brownie with the perfect squidge, the correct proportions of icing to sponge, and whether it's jam or cream first on our scones. Now thanks to the success of a certain TV baking show, our flirtation with flour, fruit and frosting has become a full-blown love affair. Travelling the country from Dundee to the Isle of Wight, Andrew Baker serves up the story of our national obsession with cake, one slice at a time. On his greedy quest he seeks to discover the True Slice of each iconic cake and we join him eating sponge sandwiched with jam and cream at Queen Victoria's holiday home at Osborne House, discovering the illustrious yet scandal-filled history of the Battenberg's saccharine squares, and learn how a caterpillar enrobed in chocolate became a party-starting birthday centrepiece. From King Alfred's oat cakes to the River Café's revered Chocolate Nemesis, here are wedding cakes, ginger cakes, cupcakes, a honey cake and the Bake-Off Showstopper and moreish more. Includes recipes for example for a Red Velvet or Cheesecake Layer, buttercream and decoration for a 21st century wedding cake. 312pp, line art and crumbs of knowledge interspersed in features.