Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #144090 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
I have had this book on my wish list for a while and after reading the other reviews was really excited when it arrived but I was quite disappointed. I make celebration and novelty cakes for a living and had thought that this book would be a great source of inspiration but all cakes in the book are covered in frosting / buttercream style icing not sugarpaste and I think in the vivid colours these icings make the cakes look sickly. The finish is not as high quality as I would expect in a cake book - piped lines are broken in places etc. The recipes look fantastic though and I will try out those flavours but I will not be copying the cake designs. A great book if you like baking all differents types of cake but I would not recommend it to sugarcrafters really.

What a fantastic book!
I bought this book on a whim and have been so impressed with it. After a bit of investment in a cup measure and some investigation into the American ingredients I have throughly enjoyed making some of the delicious cakes. Plus the decorating tips are brilliant - especailly the coloured chocolate animals and insects that are so easy to make and very effective! Guaranteed to impress any one eating one of your creations!

Wonderful cakes
I was instantly attracted to this book from the cake on the cover. It is a beautiful book, illustrated throughout with photos of the finished cakes. The cakes themselves are so wonderful & imaginative, they really inspire you!

So far, I have only made the chocolate butter cake with Kaye's chocolate buttercream and the cookies & cream filling, but it was gorgeous. It was the yummiest chocolate cake I have ever made - dense, moist & so chocolatey - and rivals pretty much any bought cake I've ever encountered. I brought it into work & recieved so many compliments! I'm not an expert baker by any means, but this turned out wonderfully for me.

As it's an American book, a lot of the recipes call for cake flour which isn't readily available in the UK. I substituted 3/4 cup plain flour & 1/4 cup corn flour for each cup of cake flour called for in the recipes & this seemed to work our just fine.

I was a little nervous about the buttercream as it made such huge quantities, but I reduced it to a 1/3 and it still worked beautifully and covered the 10 inch cake I made with a little bit left over. I used dried egg whites instead of fresh because I didn't know what to do with all the yolks, but they worked out fine. The buttercream was wonderfully smooth & literally melted in your mouth!

Although the stated recipes use large baking tins that you may not have to hand, the recipes also state how many cups of batter they make & there is an appendix at the back saying how many cups you need per pan size which is really useful. It also detailed how many cups of filling & icing you need, although the quantities of icing are a little more generous than I would usually go for! As a previous reviewer mentioned, it's definitely worth investing in a set of measuring cups!

I can't wait to try my hand at some of the more extravagant creations now!