The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes, and Cupcakes from New York City's Famed Bakery [Hardcover]

Elisa Strauss (Author), Christie Matheson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2007

When a world-famous shoe designer walked into his surprise birthday party and saw the cake that was waiting for him--a Manolo stiletto perched alluringly next to a tissue-filled shoebox--it was his turn to ogle someone else's talent. The cake, created by Elisa Strauss of Confetti Cakes in New York City, was a sensation. Not only did everyone at the party want to know how it was made, they wanted to know how to create something as dazzling themselves.


This unique book contains projects for every skill level: from gorgeous, sugar-dusted heart cookies to delightful billiard-ball cupcakes, to sculpted cakes in the shape of wine bottles and Chinese takeout boxes, to the extravagantly beautiful, threetiered
embroidery cake showcased on Sex and the City. With delicious recipes, stunning creations for every occasion, suggestions for time-saving shortcuts, and hot tips for fabulous results, all illustrated with gorgeous photographs and easy-to follow diagrams, THE CONFETTI CAKES COOKBOOK is a must-have for the outrageously chic baker in all of us.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Proprietor of the titular bakery in New York City, Strauss offers a bevy of specific, helpful tips that will enable readers to replicate her whimsical and eye-catching designs. Opening with a detailed list of key tools (tape measure, scale, paring knife, scalpel) and basic techniques (overpiping, filling a pastry bag, making sugar bows), Strauss lays the groundwork for the heavy lifting: creating artful cookies, cakes and cupcakes using fondant, frosting and gum paste. Featured projects run the gamut from the relatively easy Pool Ball Cupcakes, Dice Mini Cakes and Snowflake Cookies to more advanced items like Teacup Mini Cakes (they look like detailed porcelain) and the gorgeous Chocolate Embroidery Wedding Cake (as seen on Sex and the City). Strauss is a patient and encouraging teacher, offering detailed instructions and drawings for complex accoutrements such as flowers, teddy bears and even shoes. Those with an interest in fondant-based cake designs will find this an informative and challenging introduction to the art.
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About the Author

Elisa Strauss is the founder and sole designer of Confetti Cakes in New York City. A former designer for Ralph Lauren, Strauss is famous for her whimsical, elaborate, fashion-related cakes. Her work has been featured in dozens of magazines as well as on the Today show, The View, and the Food Network.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (May 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316113077
• ISBN-13: 978-0316113076
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 1.2 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Cookies

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The cake decorating pedestal has another person to hold....., May 15, 2007

By 

Toni "the bookworm" (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes, and Cupcakes from New York City's Famed Bakery (Hardcover)

What a lovely book of cake decorating education!! Well done Elisa!! Ms. Strauss is the owner of New York City's "Confetti Cakes". Though she worked in the fashion industry, a playful idea of mixing her love for baking with her eye for fashion brought her to this career, and it seems to suit her well. From her bakery comes this addicting book!!

Having been mesmorized by the feats and skills of such accompished cake decorators, I always look forward with great anticipation, to the latest tomes written on this subject. Ms. Strauss does not disappoint. She has compiled a rather delightful writing of the mastery of cake design and teaches a wide range of baking skills. The cake decorating devotee is given all the information necessary to reproduce what you seen on each wonderful page. This book has the ability for anyone, from novice to professional, to use and create and ooooh and aaaaah!

The instructions run from basic cookies in shapes from onesies outfits (that's the baby's first year everyday garment of basically longjohns) to purses, and cupcakes with beribboned polka-dots to beach sandals to the main event of spectacular cakes that would fool anyone due to their unique appearances, like popcorn bags to a sushi table, replete with "rice" and "California rolls".

The book is sturdy and thick with beautiful and detailed photography of each creation so that any questions can be answered with just a glance of the eye. Her explanations are clear and concise and they are given to you in steps both for the actions required as well as the timetable needed in order to plan your time wisely.

Her book is written in this order:

EQUIPMENT AND TECHNIQUES:
This photographic and written section has what you need to work with as far as equipment and decorating tools, and each piece is numbered with a matching explanation of how you use it. There is a glossary, baking terms, practical matters, how to transport your creations, techniques for the actual decorating, filling cakes, sculpting cakes, covering cakes with fondant, constructing the cakes to hold their weight, piping with frosting and royal icing, brush embroidery, "wood staining" for making candied "tables" and "crates", making sugar bows, and more.

BASIC RECIPES:
Chocolate cake
Vanilla cake
Red velvet cake
Banana cake
Vanilla sugar cookie dough
Chocolate cookie dough
Cupcake frosting
Swiss meringue buttercream
Chocolate ganache
Royal icing
Simple syrup
Rolled fondant
How much fondant

COOKIES: (some templates are included)
Heart cookies
Snowflake cookies
Stacked wedding cake cookies
Baby onesie cookies
Birthday cake cookies
Stiletto cookies (so much fun to make!)
Handbag cookies
Witch's wardrobe cookies
Modern wedding vow cookies
Fruit cookies (they look so real)
Dragon and butterfly cookies


CUPCAKES:
Crystal cupcakes
Polka dot cupcakes
Sports cupcakes
Pool ball cupcakes
Flip-flop cupcakes (yep, little tiny sandals!)
Seashell cupcakes (the "seashells" are so easy to make)
Snowman cupcakes
Rubber ducky cupcakes
Hydrangea cupcakes


MINI-CAKES:
Tomato mini cakes (a tomato sitting in dirt in a pail)
Monogram mini cakes
Party hat mini cakes
Dice mini cakes
Mini present cakes
Retro TV mini cakes (so darn cute!)
Popcorn mini cakes (this is easy and fun and everyone loves them!)
Tote bag mini cakes
Mini wedding cakes
Teacup mini cakes

CAKES:
Bow cake (very simple yet elegant, especially for a first time project)
Baby blocks cake
Baseball hat cake
Chinese takeout box cake (clever; fortune cookie recipe too!)
2-tiered stripes cake
Brush embroidery (another very elegant first time cake)
Hydrangea cake
Appliqued flower cake
Chocolate embroidery wedding cake
The handbag cake (from the from cover of the book)
Wine bottle cake
Sushi cake
Sugar stiletto cake and shoebox cake (this put Elisa in the spotlight and you will see why!)

RESOURCES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INDEX

Being prejudiced to all that is baking, I am picky about what really inspires and educates and this book is up there with the other great volumes of true baking eduction. I would highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys this type of culinary conquest; no doubt about it, you'll be happy with this acquisition to your baking library!

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable - you have to see these to believe these @}->---, May 2, 2007

By 

Little Miss Cutey (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes, and Cupcakes from New York City's Famed Bakery (Hardcover)

Finally, the book we've all been waiting for is out. I've seen Elisa interviewed and do demonstrations and seen her work, and now some secrets are out and helpful hints and stunning pictures are all in this great book.
For some people, I imagine you'd want to dive right in and begin/attempt to recreate some of the fabulous cakes in here (I personally don't think I even have half the skill to try), but whether you want to try and make them or just admire her fantastic work, this book is spectacular.
For each recipe, there is a complete list of what you need (materials, equipment, and techniques etc). To me, I like simple, and this isn't. It can be mind boggling if you aren't practiced in baking, but I can't stress enough how beautiful this book is, and it would make the perfect gift on Mothers day or for a birthday for anyone who loves baking, or just amazing and stunning looking cakes. I love this.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed this book is effective in terms of matketing, poor in terms of cooking and learning, February 4, 2009

By 

J. Pruneda (Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes, and Cupcakes from New York City's Famed Bakery (Hardcover)

I was very excited about this book before it arrived, I even purchased the other book from this author specializing in kids cakes; I have to say that once I was able to finally read it I was deeply disappointed, the recipes presented are scarce and not accurate, the instructions and step by step guides inexistent, or at least ineffective for novices in cake decoration (I have studied 4 different Chef courses and still find it difficult to follow).
Photographs of finished cakes are quite impressive, but basically there are no photographs for the whole construction and decorating process (which was what I was looking for).
From my personal opinion this book is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished with great marketing strategy, but not necessarily provides anything in terms of learning.