Delia Smith's Book of Cakes by Delia Smith

Cake works in every situation. Cake is good for celebrations. Cake is good when you're feeling blue. Cake is good for children and old people and everyone else. Cake is good in the morning and the afternoon and late at night. Cake is good with coffee and with whiskey and with a glass of cold water. Baking a cake is one of the most fantastically powerful acts a person can take with a handful of ingredients and a bit of time. Baking a cake on a beautiful day affirms the glory of the sun in the sky and the birds in the trees, the elegant design of the universe, the magic of the bones in our bodies and the synapses in our brains. Baking a cake on a day that's cold, rainy, snowy, lonely, stretching out before you with little direction, when no one's calling or when the person you love is far away creates a moment of simple purpose. Delia Smith understands all this, and provides a set of straightforward recipes for every occasion. Sponge cake, whether plain or lemon-flavored, is pretty and l