The Essential Cake Decorating Guide (Essential Cookbooks Series)

Rating:
Summary: Not for the Buttercream at Heart
Review: This would be an essential guide if you work with fondant, mold gumpaste flowers, or model paste figures. There are step-by-step photos about how to make a wide variety of flowers, how to use basic tips for piping, how to model a variety of animals and people, and how to marbelize fondant. There are some gorgeous fondant designs--my favorites are the stacked pastel square packages, a castle, a teddy bear picnic, and a white-on-white Christmas cake. There are also some wedding cake designs that are quite different from anything you'd find in a Wilton yearbook.

This guide also offers a great section on elegant gateaux, from custard meringue to tiramisu, cappuccino truffle, and pears with a spun toffee halo, all with beautiful pictures. It also includes basic cake recipes, as well as decorating tips with pastillage, run-outs or colorflow, and a variety of other techniques.

There are a number of recipes and designs to inspire a baker or any decorator with a flair for fondant. If you'd rather pipe your icing and use molded chocolate accents, it's not an essential guide to cake decorating for you . . . just nice to look through the pictures.