Amazing Party Cakes [Hardcover]

Sue Maggs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 2001

This book contains 50 recipes for fun and fantasy cakes for all ages, such as a clown's face, a fire engine, or a frog prince.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sue Maggs trained at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School where she later taught. She later worked as Deputy Cooking Editor at Woman and Home magazine, but now works freelance, preparing food for commercials and leading women's magazines and creating recipes for books.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Anness (August 11, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842155032
• ISBN-13: 978-1842155035
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,591,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars British fun with fondant, but you could do these too, August 13, 2004

By 

M. Benno "likes2bake" (Northern NJ, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amazing Party Cakes (Hardcover)

This is an Australian or British book with lots of fun cakes:
a cute piggy in bed,
a fairy portrayed on the top of a cake,
a bunny-shaped cake,
a clock-shaped cake,
Noah's ark (just the cake, the author doesn't try to get you to shape all those animals!),
a bee-shaped cake with doily wings,
a treasure chest,
a castle-shaped cake,
a king's crown,
a pinball machine,
a tent with a camper laying in it (the author DOES show you how to shape the person),
a very simple sand castle shape,
a dart board,
a beautiful front of a house (not 3D, so that's easier),
a drum,
a clown on a round cake,
a kite,
a person in a swimming pool (which the author shows how to shape, but not very detailed),
a chess set,
a jack in the box with a 3D clown coming out,
a car and firetruck (which, while 3D, are really rather lifeless compared to her other cakes),
an army tank,
a space ship which lays flat on the plate and is quite true-to-form,
and a phone laying flat on the plate.

I differentiate between fondant and buttercream-frosted because I don't really want to deal with fondant, but these cakes could be simply frosted and then the various characters made with fondant. I differentiate between flat-on-the-plate and 3D because 3D can be quite daunting!

The book has many photos of techniques, and in fact the entire beginning section of the book is all techniques: lining a cake pan, recipes for the various icings/fondants/etc., using a piping bag.

But now that you know what's in it, is it good for you? I think this book is good for all levels of cake decorators. If you don't want to use fondant, many of the cakes can be made without it. If you want to learn some new techniques, such as "run-outs" (icing forms that you make with royal icing, allow to dry, and then you can pick them up and stick them onto your cake), this book will be very helpful because of its many color photos and simple explanations. Also, many cakes could be improved such as the car, which, while appealing to adults for its clean lines (due to the fondant), is lacking in punch for a kid -- you could take the general idea and add candy, frosting, sprinkles.

I think Ms. Maggs hits a lot of audiences with this book, from the advanced cake decorator to the just-starting-out one. You certainly could use this as your first book, or add it to your collection of many because there are beautiful designs for both boys and girls of all ages. She uses fun items like cookie crumbs on the sand castle, sprinkles (jimmies), and non-pareil (balls) on her cakes, and kids just love to see that. (One of the few "fancy" two-tiered cakes, made for a 10-year-old, is covered with sprinkles, making for a delightful contrast.)

I think you will like this book no matter what level you are at, because it has appeal, explanations, and designs for a wide-ranging audience.