This is not simply a recipe book—it's the history of more than 125 cakes, documenting cake baking from America's conception to the modern era. Anne Byrn examines the origins of the cakes before diving into each recipe (for example, chocolate cake was first created in 1886 by Sarah Rorer, a dietitian and chemist's daughter, while coffee cake was first publicized in a 1903 Milwaukee cookbook titled Settlement Cook Book: The Way to a Man's Heart, and included an entire cup of coffee in the recipe). Savor the history behind these sweet delicacies through the ages, and, if you're anything like me, read about their genesis as you wait for the oven to ding.