I purchased this book with very high hopes, because Lindy's cakes are so spectacular. However, I was a little disappointed. Her specialty is the wonky cakes like the one on the cover, but I found her instructions were pretty sparse. I have learned more about how to put together wonky cakes from free online tutorials than from the info in this book. I also think the photography was insufficient. All of the photos of the wonky cake construction are shown from the top, looking down on the top of the cake. This isn't helpful in seeing how the wonky cake is supposed to look from the side.
There are only 2 recipes included, one for chocolate cake and one for madeira. Both recipes are presented in chart form (use this amount of ingredients for this size cake) with another chart for fruit additions.
There are lots of instructions for using "cake jewelry" (wire and beading to decorate the cakes) and specialty cookie cutters that look great but are also an unbelievable amount of work.
There are complete decorating instructions for 15 different cakes in 3 categories: round, square and creative (odd shapes).
All of the cakes are gorgeous, but most look extremely intimidating to try to make. But the title of this book is "Cakes to Inspire and Desire", not "Cakes to Whip Up in a Few Minutes". And they certainly do inspire!
