Rating: 
Summary: Best birthday cake ever...!
Review: After my last feeble attempt at decorating my daughter's birthday cake, I decided that maybe I should take a class. But then I visited a friend who had just made her son one of the Whimsical Bakehouse's cakes. It was breathtaking! I ordered the book right then, and this weekend, made the Winter Wonderland cake. The cake itself was rich, delicious, and very easy to make. The buttercream icing, which is typically not my favorite, was equally heavenly, as was the raspberry mousse filling. But the real fun was in the decorating. Kaye Hansen is clearly an artist in the world's most delicious medium. Her instructions are easy to follow and written for average non-professional baker-types (like me). Armed with the decorating essentials they recommend in the introduction, I created a candy snowman, a small forest of trees, and a few dozen polka dots. The results were unbelievable -- the 3-D effect of the candy is difficult to describe, but it makes the cake come to life. I followed the recipes and candy-making instructions to a T, but next time, I hope to get more creative with the design. The book offers a range of projects that encompasses basic occasions (birthday, baby shower, wedding, seasonal, and of course, whimsical), but it really strives to teach techniques that send you on your own decorating adventures. I'm already contemplating my next trip! Well worth every penny, and a joy to explore -- buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: Sophistocated fun
Review: Although the photos of cartoon-like full-color images translated into white chocolate that festoon many of the cakes featured in this book intimidated me, I decided to give the technique a try. I found the necessary supplies at my local hobby store, and by following the instructions in the book I produced a white-chocolate replica of my church in about an hour. The techniques featured in this book are fun, absolutely unique, relatively simple to master and even taste good. I can't believe more people don't copy this style. I have several cake books and bought this one to learn the decorating techniques, so discovering it has great cake recipes on top of the decorating instructions made this book a real find for me. Lots of books teach you how to decorate with fondant, gum paste and royal icing--all of which look great but taste like sugary concrete. These decorations aren't just edible; they're delicious. If you are looking to make very special family cakes and willing to invest a little money in decorating supplies to get started, this is the right book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Play With Your Food
Review: Cakes are tasty. Good cakes, that is, not those storebought pasty-tasting aggregates of chemicals and sugar. Great cakes, however are something to behold. These are the good-looking ones that are the awe of the party. And these are the cakes presented by Kaye Hansen in "The Whimsical Bakehouse."Feeling overwhelmed by the thought of such artistry? Don't be. These can happen in your kitchen, and even mine. The recipes and designs aren't some hoity-toity baker's hallucination, but constructed of ingredients you might already have on the shelf. Or, you can quickly grab them at your local supermarket. Some aren't necessarily for beginners, but enough are that you could realistically crack open the book and have something ready the same night. You'll have plenty of ideas with which to impress your mother-in-law. In some ways, consider "The Whimsical Bakehouse" permission to play with your food. Learn that a cake is more than flour, sugar and eggs, but an empty canvas. Let your creativity explode, and then... pour a glass of milk and slice up a delightful piece of art. Enjoy! Anthony Trendl
Rating:
Summary: I love this book!
Review: Finally, a cake decorating book which shows great cakes which do not require intricate sugardough cut outs and fancy floral sprays. I just got into cake decorating and I can see myself being able to make many of these cakes which look great without tons of hours spent fussing with flowers and such. I really liked this book. Excellent choice for someone who is just starting out and for cake decorating ideas.
Rating: 
Summary: Not want I expected
Review: From the other reviews I read about this book, this book is not what I thought it would be.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Colors
Review: I am an avid collector of cooking books. I adore decorating, garnishing and finding unique ways of displaying/presenting the items that I have baked. This book has the most unique cakes that I have ever seen with the absolute best color chart for mixing your own colors. They are vivid and if you follow the directions your buttercream will come out almost exactly like the picture in the book. So far I have made the firefly cake and it was spectacular. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to make their cakes extra special.
Rating: 
Summary: cake recipes not accurate??, however......
Review: I borrowed this book from someone and tried out two cakes- orange butter cake & chocolate butter cake. The orange didn't turn out good becoz I hadn't beaten the butter/sugar mixture till fluffy (my mistake). But people loved the taste. The chocolate cake (which I baked very carefully) was crumbly & not that moist. But again delicious. The Kaye's buttercream, oreo filling, cream cheese filling recipes are all fabulous. I will borrow cake recipes from elsewhere or fix these. But the decoration ideas, & the icing n filling recipes are to die for. I am planning to add this book to my library.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT
Review: I bought this book because I was looking for fresh ideas on decorating cakes. I was absolutely amazed by the beautiful chocolate run-out designs shown here, (though the colors of the cakes themselves are a bit bright and tacky for my taste). I was a bit disappointed that the basic confectioners chocolate and candy colors are not available in my country but was more than compensated for that by the sumptuous recipes this book includes! I have tried several already and they are fabulous. This is absolutely the most original cake-decorating book I've ever seen. Go ahead and order!!
Rating:
Summary: Fun with cake and chocolate!
Review: I got into cake decorating about six months ago and am now searching for adventurous things to try on my cakes. This book showed me how to use adorable chocolate creations to jazz up my cakes. The pictures are great. I had absolutely no trouble following the directions. This is a great book for those into cake decorating!
Rating:
Summary: made believers out of my in laws!!
Review: I got this book because of the reviews I had read, and I love it! I made a three tier cake for my little boy's third birthday party, and while I was rushed making the icing and decorating it didn't matter. The cake turned out great, he would have been happy with a big bowl of the icing and everyone else loved the cake. It had great flavor and it was really easy to make. To get the same results again would be simple, and even better with a little more practice the cake would look perfect too.
|
