Great Cake Decorating: Sweet Designs for Cakes and Cupcakes – Erin Gardner – Taunton Press – Published January 7 2014
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Synopsis
Whether you are a bride on a budget, a mom baking for a birthday, a cook who needs to control added ingredients, or just want to celebrate a special event with a fresh, delicious cake, this book has something for you.
Author and pastry chef Erin Gardner is famous for her unique designs and cake decorating skill. In these pages, she demonstrates professional techniques for creating beautiful, custom-made cakes that are also completely delicious. From how to make mouthwatering, homemade buttercream to molding gorgeous fondant flowers and bows, Erin’s detailed, step-by-step instructions offer home cooks all the decorating know-how they need. She also presents a host of secrets and shortcuts for dressing up plain cakes in absolutely no time—try her fruit Rollup trick for pretty cake flowers that can be made in a flash. Throughout the book, Erin shows time-pressed cooks how to improve upon well-known cake decorating techniques.
My thoughts
I love cake decorating books. There is something so wonderful about their vibrant pictures and, I’ve found, solid basic cake recipes. This book has all that and more.
Part one of this book covers all the basics of cake decorating. Everything from piping tools, splitting a cake, decorating cake pops, making flowers, icing with fondant and stacking cakes is covered in easy-to-follow detailed instructions, with plenty of tips and step-by-step pictures.
Part two covers the cake designs, separated into nature inspired, graphic designs, floral creations, fabric, buttons and bows, and special occasions. The students in our library are going to love looking at these beautiful and vibrant designs and the teachers are happily going to be placing orders for their birthday cakes. Each of the designs have detailed instructions, helpful tips, ideas for making the design on a smaller scale and how to skip tricker steps and replace them with premade conveniences. Some designs are beyond extravagant, while others are simpler. Many also include designs for matching cupcakes or mini cakes.
Part three covers the recipes. Everything from basic vanilla chiffon cake to a hazelnut cake, chocolate ganache, to royal icing or pastry cream. But the highlight was salted caramel icing. Three words just changed my baking life. Yum.
With beautiful photos, a range of decorating techniques and creative designs, this cake decorating book will keep any baker inspired.
The publishers provided a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
More information
Category: Non-fiction
Genre: Cookbook.
Themes: Baking, desserts, cakes, cake decorating, cake designs.
Published: 7 January April 2014 by Taunton Press.
Format: Paperback. 224 pages.
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