Wacky Cakes and Kooky Cookies

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: After reading all of the reviews on this book I was left confused by the extreme selection of critiques. After seeing the beautiful carrot cakes on the cover I decided this could hardly be the work of a "sloppy" decorator and went ahead and ordered. What can I say, the cover most definitely does not reflect the level of work inside, which can only be described as ..well.. sloppy! My 12 year old daughter had produced better looking cookies than these!! I can't say anything about the recipes because quite frankly none of them inspired me to try. The only thing that interested me was the explanation on how to make checkerboard or pinwheel cookies, but I didn't need to buy a book just for that. So, if you're undecided about whether to purchase this book as I was, my advice is save your money!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and doable
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer, and I think the reviewer performed a valuable service in pointing out that "Wacky Cakes and Kooky Cookies" is the same book as "Cake and Cookie Decorating." I would merely like to add my own experiences in using the book. Bear in mind that, although I love to bake at home, I'm by no means an expert baker. First, the cakes. I've made two: the chocolate sponge, and the lemon victorian sponge. The chocolate sponge was indeed chocolatey, but much too heavy for my taste. The lemon sponge was much more successful. It was nice and light, and well-flavored with lemon. It's also one of the easiest cakes you can make from scatch. It does use self-rising flour, and therefore doesn't have the perfect crumb that you'll get from the sponge cakes in "The Cake Bible." But it's still very good, and quick! Another plus: This recipe only calls for four eggs. Most sponge/angel cake recipes call for 6-8 eggs. If you want a good, quick cake for dinner, without having to run out and buy more eggs, or borrow from the neighbors, this is the recipe to make. Frostings: Very strong. I tried everything but the fondant frosting, and they were all good. The granache was delicious, and surprisingly easy to make. My favorite was the lemon water frosting: VERY quick, easy and tasty, and the lemon juice cuts the excessive sweetness of the sugar. This frosting is perfect for the Happy Sun cookies. It dries nice and solid, and you can decorate on top of it. Cookie doughs: I tried the gingerbread dough and the lemon almond shortbread. The gingerbread dough as excellent, like most gingerbread doughs. What sets this recipe apart from most others is that it doesn't require eggs, so it keeps well, and you can use corn syrup instead of molasses, which people are more likely to have in their kitchens. Don't skimp on the flavorings. We (my daughter and I) made the lemon almond shortbread cookies twice; we consider this recipe a failure. Even after chilling, the dough was VERY crumbly and hard to roll out. And even after we (finally) rolled it out thin, it still produced a very heavy cookie. Also, we found the taste bland: a disappointment, considering that it's so expensive - 1 1/3 cups ground almonds. We made the Happy Sun and Sunflower cookies, and both turned out great: truly unusual and spectacular-looking. The sunflower cookies are very rich, with the royal frosting and chocolate centers. They're more like a pastry than a cookie. I suggest using any cutout cookie dough you're comfortable with, rather than the almond shortbread one. If you have oodles of time, and don't mind enlarging the templates in the back of the book, then transferring them to plastic and cutting around each cookie with a knife, that's fine. Otherwise, just buy a sunflower cookie cutter. In a way, the Happy Sun cookies were my favorite: Impressive but easy, and you don't have to fool around with templates or special cutters. Also, if you're pressed for time, you can use the lemon-water frosting, and then draw faces with store-bought cake-decorating tubes. The large illustration is very helpful here. The best part of this book, for me, was in presenting really unusual yet doable cookies. I highly recommend "Wacky Cakes and Kooky Cookies."

Rating:
Summary: Fun! Cake decorating for beginners...
Review: I stumbled upon this book in my public library but am looking for a copy for myself. Jenne's base recipes are great no-fail recipes and earned me rave reviews at work when I turned up with shortbread and then the chocolate sponge and ganache. The technique is simple using parchment paper rather than lots of fancy equipment.My attempt at the sunflower cookies was a great hit and was fun. And having fun is the spirit of the whole enterprise.

Rating:
Summary: The same book
Review: If you purchase this book, it is no need to purchase the one titled Decorating Cakes and Cookies by the same author. It is the same book just a different cover.

Rating:
Summary: Not the usual "Wilton" look in cakes
Review: Jenne has some fun, creative and original ideas for cake decorating. Yes, they do look a bit sloppy, but then these are not the usual "Wilton" frosting daisies and roses. The reason for just 2 stars is some of the recipes aren't very good with questionable instructions. For example, the one for Chocolate Granache calls for UNSWEETENED chocolate and cream. That's it. And it's absolutely vile tasting. I ended up using Jacques Pepin's recipe from his "La Technique" cookbook. And the Konditor cake needs a special Croquembouche mold which will set you back about $90-$110. I think this book is for more experienced bakers who can spot a questionable recipe, but then they probably have better cookbooks in their libraries.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Practical, Too
Review: Like Creative Cookies by Toba Garrett this is a beautiful book suitable for display on the coffee table. Unlike Garrett's book, this one tempts me to actually try making some of the cookies and cakes! The ideas in Wacky Cakes aren't necessarily simple to execute, but there is a sense of proportion here. We are only talking food, after all. How much time do you really want to spend making a single cookie? This is about half the price of the Garrett book, too. A good value.

Rating:
Summary: Ok for the money, but have seen better
Review: Lovely pictures, easy to follow recipes and great directions.
If you are interested in decorating cakes, this is a nice book to have.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book has some good cookie recipes and techniques,but the decorating style is very sloppy.If I walked into his bakeshop and found the pictured items for sale,I would pass.

Rating:
Summary: Cake decorating unlike anything I've seen before!
Review: This book teaches the most fantastic cake and cookie decorating techniques. What's so great about it is that the author uses simple equipment such a parchment paper cones to make his masterpieces. None of those pastry bags and fancy tips. This book is proof that great decorating requires talent and NOT fancy equipment. He also provides a few basic cookie, cake and icing recipes that are simple to make yet delicious. A wonderful resource for ideas.

Rating:
Summary: I have only one complaint with this book
Review: This is a very nice book with some original ideas and very good recipes.It has pictures of all the finished products,beautiful sunflower cookies,bright clowns,cute gingerbread people,happy sun cookies and pretty ginger cats.What i like the best are the petit fours decorated with very cute & colorful animals,flowers & carrot's.It also has some nice cakes like golden celebration cake,chocolate celebration ,chocolate velvet , fruitcake , sponge and lemon.There is a recipe & directions on how to make checkerboard cookies which is a unique look.It has some recipes for frostings & fillings as well.None of the ingredients are overly expensive or hard to find.The only complaint i have with this book is that it is the exact same book as "Decorating Cakes & cookies" by the same author! These books both have different covers & different names but every single page is identical! I already owned ' decorating cakes & cookies' by this author & liked it, so when i saw this one i ordered it.I was very disappointed to open it find out that i already had this book with a different cover & name! I think that is very deceiving. So please do not make the same mistake i did in thinking that they are 2 different books like you're led to believe they are.This is a good book & i think you'll only need one.