Dorie’s Anytime Cakes review, take 1. And … action! Flipping through book, writer dashes off opening line: Conversational, sometimes whimsical, eminently doable recipes from a beloved cookbook author—even before testing any recipes, you know this book will be a winner. Cut!
Dorie’s Anytime Cakes review, take 2. And … action! Cookbook reviewer tests six recipes in a day, tasting them all late at night. Reviewer stares at the plate, underwhelmed. Is it possible she will have to write a negative review of this lovely book, with fool-your-eye illustrations instead of photos and Dorie Greenspan’s usual confidence-inspiring recipe style? Reviewer heads to bed, with the first lyrical draft dashed. Cut!
Dorie’s Anytime Cakes review, take 3. And…action! Cookbook reviewer drags herself from bed following a restless night of half-formed lines drifting through her dreams, cuts new slices of cakes, and begins (in a very Greenspanish word) nibbling. First bite, shakes her head no. Second and third cakes, a slow nod. Fourth cake, a slight smile. Fifth cake, slight smile plus a nod—and a flashback to the savory muffins of the previous evening, with a full smile forthcoming. Cut!
Crew, take a break—we’re going with take 3.
Here’s the good and great: Reading Dorie Greenspan’s writing brings simple joy—her enthusiasm, warmth, straightforward instructions, and options for playing around with recipes will keep readers turning the pages.
Recipes come together quickly, often without special equipment (stand mixers, processors) and with ingredients bakers will have on hand. While many have glazes and some have frostings, these are generally true to “anytime”—cakes for casual get-togethers and snacking, not high celebrations.
Realizing the photos are in fact illustrations will make readers linger over them, trying to figure out how they were done.
The not-so-great: Too many of the tested recipes were simply so-so.
They were, to be sure, better after sitting overnight, allowing the flavors to settle in. But did any scream “bake me again, share me with friends, and dogear this page”? No.
Breton buckwheat butter cake: Dry and overly salty (even when the saltiness is supposed to be the point), this was also the least-liked of the tested recipes—one-dimensional and, aside from the salt, bland, with its tinge of nutmeg overwhelmed by the salt. Greenspan says to go with under-baking if in doubt about whether it’s done, and significant under-doing it may have helped here (and elsewhere—several recipes came out too much on the dry side, even for this inveterate under-baker).
Olive oil and orange grab-and-go cake: Flavored simply with the zest and juice of one orange and a splash of Campari or Aperol for a bitter edge, this oil and yogurt cake was fine, but bland. The “playing around” suggestions to frost it or split and spread it with orange marmalade plus frosting might go a long way to improve matters, but the simple version should be stronger on its own.
Bourbon brown-butter cake: More like a quick bread, this loaf cake comes together quickly and bumps up the flavor with its combination of browned butter, toasted pecans, and a dash of bourbon. Greenspan describes it as a “quiet flavor of bourbon-tinged caramel”—while there’s no actual caramel here, the flavor does approach something both quiet and a bit more complex.
Moko cake-o: A takeoff of a cookie from a Paris restaurant, this loaf cake combines a bit of rye flour, poppy seeds, chopped chocolate, and dried cranberries for a happier result. The crunch of the seeds with the tang of cranberries and pools of chocolate, plus yogurt, oil, and butter to keep things moist, edged this recipe closer to the “make me again” category.
Olive oil dunking Bundt: Flavored with orange zest, rosemary, orange-blossom water, and olive oil, plus the suggested addition of candied peel, slices of this cake, Greenspan says, stretch and pull like pannetone. That didn’t seem to be the case with the test recipe, but the cake was moist enough (though less so than the illustration would suggest) and relatively flavorful. Because Greenspan included a glaze only as an option, the recipe was tested without it, but the orange juice-powdered sugar topping may have been a better bet for both flavor and texture.
Pop-the-cork nibblets: For an alternative to the gougères she usually greets dinner guests with, Greenspan devised mini muffins with salty blue cheese and sweet prunes, plus a touch of Parmesan. These were the best recipe of the bunch, mixing up quickly and pairing nicely with a chilled white wine. While better after cooling for 15 minutes, these were the only cakes that didn’t need overnight improvement.
Greenspan is generally specific in measurements, but where she isn’t leads to frustration. Despite saying in her introduction “I can’t emphasize enough how important measuring is in baking and how easy your baking life will be once you make a habit of using a scale,” she gives no quantities when she calls for sprinkling fleur de sel over cakes—easily leading to oversalted sweets.
And while she gives weights for most ingredients, she annoyingly uses milliliters for some wet ingredients that would be so much better given in grams. Why make a baker measure out oil or honey into a cup or tablespoon rather than pouring straight into a bowl set on a scale?
Chapters fit her whimsical style, divided by round, loaf, Bundt, baby (cupcakes and their ilk), and salty cakes, plus “cakes with corners” (square cakes and bars).
Sweet recipes include a brownie cake, a pudding puff cake (scoops of pâte à choux baked into a round, halved and filled with chocolate pudding like a large eclair), banana cappucino cake, cocoa-cherry thyme loaf cake, chocolate orange drizzle cake, Brazilian carrot cake, coffee-chocolate chunk Bundt, black sesame bars, coffee-crunch coffee cake, Greek orange cake, caramel-nut chocolate upside-down cake, buttermilk cupcakes, variations on vanilla madeleines, and bran-berry muffins.
Savory cakes were often the more intriguing recipes, including “fauxcaccia” squares, apple-cheddar corn cake, miso-cheddar scone cake, and seaweed and furikake muffins.
Quick takes:
Dorie’s Anytime Cakes, by Dorie Greenspan. 320 pages. Published by Harvest, 2025.
Organization: Chapters for round cakes, loaf cakes, Bundt cakes, cakes with corners, baby cakes, salty cakes, and frostings/fillings.
Ingredients measurement methods: Generally listed by both volume and weight, with the exception of some liquids.
Photos: No photos, but nicely done photo-like illustrations for each recipe.
Index: Appears generally comprehensive (though a spot check for ginger zucchini cakes showed no listing under zucchini).
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