Podcast Summary
Podcast: New Books Network – Food Channel
Host: Laura Goldberg
Guest: Dorie Greenspan
Book: Dorie’s Anytime Cakes (Harvest, 2025)
Date: November 18, 2025
Brief Overview
This episode features a lively and heartfelt conversation between host Laura Goldberg and celebrated cookbook author Dorie Greenspan, discussing Dorie’s latest book, Dorie’s Anytime Cakes. The interview covers the inspiration and design behind the book, Dorie’s deep affection for simple cakes, the emotional and cultural connections behind baking, the importance of community within the baking world, and specific recipes—both sweet and savory—that highlight Dorie’s signature approach. The episode is rich with anecdotes, practical tips, and reflections on baking as both craft and connection.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Book Design & Visual Aesthetic
- Illustrations Over Photos: Dorie chose illustrator Nancy Pappas and designer Melissa Latfi to bring a whimsical, charming feel to the book, moving away from traditional food photography.
- The Magic of Small Details: Melissa surprised Dorie with a tiny heart illustration on the end papers.
“There’s a tiny little heart in the front of the book that Melissa never mentioned she was putting there. It’s just so sweet.” —Dorie Greenspan [04:35]
- Embracing Simplicity: The design reflects Dorie’s desire to highlight the pure, unadorned beauty of simple cakes rather than overshadowing them with dramatic props and lighting.
2. Philosophy of Cakes & Simplicity
- The Beauty of Plain Cakes: Dorie’s love for simple cakes stems from their essence and enduring role in her life.
“It took me until this book was born...to realize how much I love these simple cakes and how much they’ve meant to me through my life.” —Dorie Greenspan [10:19]
- Cakes as Social Glue: Dorie recounts how cakes were always present in her Brooklyn childhood home and served as a means for gathering and conversation.
“I think of them now as a way that my mother drew people around the table. There would be coffee, there would be cake, there would be conversation.” —Dorie Greenspan [13:13-13:45]
- Comfort vs. Showstopper: She contrasts the talk-stopping nature of elaborate cakes with the inviting, everyday comfort of “counter cakes.”
3. Baking, Memory, and Family
- Intergenerational Influence: Dorie discusses the impact of her mother and grandmother, sharing stories around honey cake, almond cake, and other family favorites.
“My mother hated honey cake but loved the almonds on top... And I had never been able to make a cake that was my grandmother’s honey cake.” —Dorie Greenspan [34:44]
- Recipes as Narrative: Headnotes in her book serve as “micro-essays” recalling places, people, and emotions tied to specific cakes.
4. Community, Social Media & Connection
- Authenticity Over Perfection: Despite the visual culture of Instagram and TikTok, Dorie focuses on sharing her genuine self and her bakes, rather than highly stylized images.
“I can only be me, and I’m just me. I don’t have a team... I bake these cakes myself.” —Dorie Greenspan [16:26]
- Tuesdays with Dorie: A grassroots online baking group that started in 2006, where bakers worldwide bake and share Dorie’s recipes.
“There’s still a Tuesdays with Dorie group and people are still baking every Tuesday.” —Dorie Greenspan [21:36]
- BaconTell & Building Community: Dorie’s Substack and related baking group foster a supportive corner of the internet for bakers to connect and help one another.
5. Cultural Exchange: French and American Baking
- French Sensibility in American Cakes: Dorie discusses the transatlantic dialogue between French and American baking traditions.
- French home baking is typically low-effort; the yogurt cake (measured with a yogurt container) is a cultural staple reminiscent of the American pound cake.
“Everyone knows how to make the yogurt cake... It’s reminiscent of our pound cake... almost infinitely play aroundable.” —Dorie Greenspan [26:19]
- Charlotte Russe: A particular cake that Dorie initially thought was strictly French but later realized had deep Brooklyn roots, reflective of culinary cultural crossover.
6. Cakes with Meaning and Memories
- Travel-Inspired Cakes: Many recipes are inspired by serendipitous encounters, e.g., a toasted almond cake discovered at a Paris farm fair (Salon d’Agriculture).
“I bought the cake, and then the woman at the stand said, 'Do you want the recipe?' I don’t care about collecting anything on my travels except recipes.” —Dorie Greenspan [31:13]
- Every Cake Has a Story: Cakes marked with a heart in the book are “treasured favorites," each with its own backstory—such as the failed attempt at recreating Ebinger’s blackout cake that led to her “Devil’s Chocolate Bundt.”
7. Baking Technique & Approach
- Backbone Basics: Measurement, patience, and proper cooling are essential for cake success.
“With baking, you need to measure the ingredients properly. You need to follow the recipe. … After that, you can play around.” —Dorie Greenspan [37:34]
- Joy of Baking: The tactile and sensory pleasure of baking remains endlessly satisfying for Dorie.
8. Favorite Bakers and Inspirations
- Influences: Dorie credits Mede Heater, Gaston Lenôtre, Pierre Hermé, Claire Saffitz, Yossy Arefi, Rose Levy Beranbaum, and Joanne Chang as inspirations.
9. Baking during the Pandemic
- Home Baking & Sharing: The pandemic increased interest in home baking and sharing as acts of comfort and community.
“There is something about baking that is almost synonymous with sharing.” —Dorie Greenspan [43:24]
10. Holiday & Special Occasion Cakes
- Approachable Occasion Cakes: Despite the “anytime” theme, the book includes recipes for holidays that are simple yet full of seasonal flavor (e.g., cranberry-cardamom Bundt, morning-noon-night Thanksgiving cake with sweet potatoes and marshmallow, cocoa-swirl pumpkin Bundt, gingerbread with apple butter and crystalized ginger).
“Everything that’s in the book is something I love… I wanted to do cakes that stayed in the kitchen, cakes that didn’t necessarily go out to the holiday table, cakes that you could eat while you were making the big holiday desserts.” —Dorie Greenspan [44:42]
11. Innovative Savory Cakes
- Salty Cakes (“Cake Salé”): Dorie introduces American bakers to the French tradition of savory cakes, with creative recipes such as harissa-lemon loaf, seaweed furikake muffins, miso-cheddar pull-apart “cake,” and blue cheese “pop the cork niblets” for entertaining.
“It was so much fun… I normally make gougères, but now I give them pop-the-cork niblets… They have blue cheese and prunes and parmesan cheese and nuts.” —Dorie Greenspan [50:30]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
On Simple Cakes as Enduring Love:
“It took me until this book was born…to realize how much I love these simple cakes and how much they’ve meant to me through my life.”
—Dorie Greenspan [10:19]
On Cake as Conversation-Starter:
“When you bring a simple cake out, I feel like it says, let’s just settle in. Let’s just talk. Let’s stay here and talk because we can always, you know, take another piece of cake.”
—Dorie Greenspan [14:18]
On Social Media Authenticity:
“I can only be me, and I’m just me. I don’t have a team… I bake these cakes myself.”
—Dorie Greenspan [16:26]
On Recipes as Travel Mementos:
“I don’t care about collecting anything on my travels except recipes.”
—Dorie Greenspan [31:13]
Timestamps for Key Segments
| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |------------|---------------------------------------------------| | 02:06 | Introduction; Book’s design—illustrations | | 05:13 | Visuals, the importance of simplicity | | 09:05 | The essence/power of simple cakes | | 11:33 | Baking, memory, and family stories | | 16:22 | Social media, authenticity, online community | | 20:18 | “Tuesdays with Dorie” and “BaconTell” | | 24:41 | French-American baking sensibility and recipes | | 27:56 | Charlotte Russe and culinary nostalgia | | 30:50 | Paris Salon d’Agriculture-inspired almond cake | | 34:44 | Cakes with a story—honey cake and family memory | | 36:52 | Baking technique—measurement and patience | | 40:21 | Cookbook/baker inspirations | | 42:07 | Home baking during the pandemic | | 44:42 | Holiday and special cakes | | 48:58 | Savory cakes and innovative flavors | | 52:03 | Closing remarks and gratitude |
Conclusion
This episode offers a warm and insightful dive into the heart of home baking, as Dorie Greenspan shares her philosophy of “anytime cakes,” rooted in memory, family, community, and authentic joy. Both practical and inspiring, the conversation invites listeners to appreciate the emotional power of simple cakes—and to start baking, sharing, and connecting, one delicious slice at a time.