THE BAKING AISLE HAS MORE OPTIONS — FOR BETTER AND FOR WORSE _The Cake Bible_ mostly refrains from recommending specific brands. “If the book could last 35-plus years, I don’t want to put

things into it that don’t have as long a life,” Beranbaum quips. But even this conservative approach couldn’t account for the ways our groceries would change. For example, varieties of flour

that didn’t even exist in 1988 have added more confusion for home cooks. “I didn’t even bother to put ‘bleached cake flour’ in the original_ Cake Bible_, because bleached had always been

all that existed as far as cake flour,” Beranbaum says. Since then, though, King Arthur started producing unbleached cake flour. “It really isn’t cake flour. It’s not made with the same

vintage ones have a depth of just one-and-a-half inches. This means that the 1988 versions of the recipes don’t make quite enough batter to fill modern-day cake pans to the top. But is it

really so bad to use a bigger pan than a recipe calls for? Actually, yes. “If the pan is too big, the sides will shield the batter and slow down the baking. The resulting cake will be drier

with a paler surface,” Beranbaum writes. So Beranbaum tested and adjusted the proportions in _The Cake Bible_’s revised edition to account for modern cookware. In some cases, these

adjustments to the book’s recipes yield pleasant surprises. The White Chocolate Whisper Cake recipe, for example, makes enough batter for exactly two 9-inch cakes for layering and three

extra cupcakes, allowing the baker to taste his or her handiwork without slicing into the main event. “Sometimes you can scale something down, but it gives you ridiculous proportions, like a

third plus an eighth of baking powder or something,” Beranbaum says, laughing. “[A few extra cupcakes] was the solution.” "The Cake Bible" goes on sale Oct. 22. Courtesy

HarperCollins BAKE WITH ROSE Levy Beranbaum shared three recipes from _The Cake Bible_ for AARP members to try: DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE A deep, dark and delicious cake paired with a

delicious Midnight Ganache. THE CHOCOLATE DOMINGO I dedicated this cake to Plácido Domingo, to create a special recipe for one of my favorite opera stars.  APPLE WALNUT BUNDT CAKE The

perfect fall apple-season cake that can be enjoyed any time of the year. PUBLIC TASTES HAVE EVOLVED. SO HAVE BERANBAUM’S _The Cake Bible_ wasn’t exactly reimagined for today’s culture of

instant gratification. (“What’s the term people always use — quick and easy? I want to do an article,” she says, laughing, “‘The Virtues of Slow and Difficult.’”) But the book did get a

style makeover, accounting for the changing visual tastes of cookbook readers. The photos were updated. The layout was reconsidered, too; long recipes were shifted around to ensure they

appeared on opposing pages, preventing readers from having to flip through the book with messy fingers. “Maybe it was a good thing we waited 35 years,” Beranbaum jokes. “We learned so much

about how you have to write, about how you have to organize.” Recipes were updated for other kinds of evolved tastes, too. “Through the years, more people have said that things are too sweet

rather than not sweet enough,” says Beranbaum. In some cases, she’s come to agree. The updated Devil’s Food Cake, for example, contains added unsweetened moist, chocolate-forward taste

that’s a little bit less sweet. “Sugar is the enemy of flavor,” says Beranbaum. “If you don’t have enough sugar, you don’t have a good balance. But too much sugar means all you taste is

sweetness.”