Crazy About Cupcakes (Paperback)

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Product Description

Go cupcake crazy! With nearly 300 awesome, mouthwatering ideas to choose from, home bakers will find the right recipe for any occasion and every palate. And whether they’re chocolaty, spicy, crunchy, fruity, or creamy, these exquisitely decorated treats look as astounding as they taste—perfect little temptations designed to make adults nostalgic and children happy. All the basics are lovingly explained so anyone can whip up a beautiful batch, and there are varieties for every day (from healthy cupcakes to ice cream indulgences); parties big and small; holidays ranging from Christmas to the Fourth of July; just for kids; and fund-raisers and bake sales. Plus, to make things easy, an entire chart- and template-filled chapter focuses on flavor combinations and design elements.

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Product Details Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Sterling (August 1, 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 1402719949 ISBN-13: 978-1402719943 Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8 x 0.8 inches Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,737 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in these categories: (What's this?) #13 in  Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Baking > Cakes #32 in  Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Baking > Desserts

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More About the Author

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› Visit Amazon's Krystina Castella Page

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	40% buy the item featured on this page: Crazy About Cupcakes 4.3 out of 5 stars (38) $12.21
	37% buy Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make 4.7 out of 5 stars (214) $9.32
	13% buy Martha Stewart's Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat 4.3 out of 5 stars (57) $14.61
	4% buy Betty Crocker Just Cupcakes: 100 Recipes for the Way You Really Cook (Betty Crocker Books) 3.7 out of 5 stars (6) $10.17

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Customer Reviews

38 Reviews 5 star:  (18) 4 star:  (14) 3 star:  (4) 2 star:  (2) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.3 out of 5 stars (38 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 78 of 79 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!!!, September 14, 2006 By  Andrew'sMom "creativebaker" (New York) - See all my reviews If your a crazed cake decorator like myself, you are always looking for different recipes, decorating and presentation ideas...finally a "different" cookbook has arrived. There are many different recipes inside this large book for the cake and frostings themselves...but the ideas for decorating and presentation are DIFFERENT and some cool displays are presented as well. There are even fancy designs for elegant cupcakes (a tiramusi cupcake!) - petit four type ideas...this alone is worth the price of the book and I'd pay twice the price of this book for that. Some of the reviews on amazon can go on and on and on - and you fall asleep before you can finish reading them...I don't have time for that -- I don't have time to be doing this review - BUT one thing for sure - if I take the time to give a review on a book it is special and a must have. BUY THIS BOOK!!! 57 of 58 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Crazy for this book!, October 25, 2006 By  Sharon Meltzer (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This is the only review I'll ever write on Amazon. I felt it was my duty to let everyone know about this fabulous book. If you have any interest in cakes, cupcakes, decorations or baking... you MUST buy this book. I own *many* books on cakes; from recipes to decorations. All with exactly the same information. This book has MORE information about baking and DIFFERENT information about decorating. I've already made marzipan fruit, candied citrus peels, cupcakes, petit fours, cream filled cupcakes and many different types of icing, frostings and sugar pastes. And this is only from reading the first 1/2 of the book. I can't wait to find out what the 2nd 1/2 of the book contains." 54 of 55 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy your status as "Cupcake Goddess"..., April 14, 2007 By  A. Lupia "amlbee" (Branford, CT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    I admit to owning six cupcake books (to date...)I know, I know...but cupcakes are just so perfect: Fun to make and decorate, easy to serve and oh, so cool to enjoy eating. This is the most "complete" book I've seen so far. There is a cupcake for everyone, for every occasion, for all baking and decorating skills. The recipes include the basics found in all the other books, but the variations presented are staggering. Many, many different flavorings, add-ins and batter combinations as well as interesting icings and toppings guarantee lots of opportunities for moving well outside the standards. The presentations range from sophisticated dinner-party-finish to a child's delight. The book is well organized and the introduction explains the basics of baking, frosting, toppings, substitutions, choices of pans, transporting and storing, plus a bit of cupcake history. (A previous reviewer commented that there is no indication of how many cupcakes the recipes make, or how much frosting you will have...the author states in the introduction that each recipe makes 18-24 medium cupcakes, with some recipes calling for two or more batches; the frosting recipes are geared to the number of cupcakes.) The decorations are also quite comprehensive with most requiring little cake decorating skills, i.e. pastry bags and Wilton tips. Instead, the author makes great use of small candies, shaved chocolate, fruit and fondant, all of which are described in detail in the introduction so that when you see the pictures, you already have a pretty good idea how she accomplished the finished product. If there is one slight criticism, it would be that the photos are not usually next to the recipes; sometimes several different cakes are grouped together in one photo. I have become spoiled by the other books which have large, glossy photos of the decorated cupcakes on the page with the recipe or on the facing page: A small price to pay for such a wealth of information and excellent recipes. And the raves from my girlfriends on chick-nite for the Screwdriver Cupcakes with Spiked Orange Frosting was as enthusiastic as my 17 year-old son's for the Mint Chocolate Chip cupcakes with the Dark Chocolate Icing. I do so enjoy being considered a cupcake goddess....Thank you, Krystina!		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for beginners I bought this book some time ago and at the beginning I refered to it very often for ideas and recipes. Read more Published 1 month ago by Lesley Blackwell 2.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed I was very disappointed with this book - the cupcakes all look very amaturish which i found surprising - I can do amaturish on my own! Read more Published 1 month ago by J.M. 5.0 out of 5 stars Great recipes! This was a gift for my daughter who is a great baker and cook. She loves the book and says it's full of inspiration and ideas. Read more Published 2 months ago by M. A. 3.0 out of 5 stars mrsxfile Crazy About Cupcakes I ordered this book because I decided to make cupcakes for my husbands graduation party. Read more Published 4 months ago by J. Berenson 4.0 out of 5 stars NICE BOOK !!! This is a very nice book, with excellent ideas and combinations for all occassions, the only thing I didn't like is the fact that recipes don't show how many cupcakes you get from... Read more Published 6 months ago by Z. Rezk 5.0 out of 5 stars good recipes, nice decorations, hundreds of combinations The book has a lot of useful recipes, basic recipes, the author proposes combinations that result in very nice cupcakes. Recipes are easy to follow. Read more Published 7 months ago by rosdm 5.0 out of 5 stars Cooking Gramma This book is super. I own several cupcake related cookbooks and this one is by far my favorite! My granddaughter and I love to make cupcakes for the rest of the family and this... Read more Published 8 months ago by R. Preacher 2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I thought it would be... I was pretty disappointed with this book when it arrived. There were few photos and the cupcakes featured looked like they had jumped out of a school bake sale. Read more Published 9 months ago by M. Kruzel 5.0 out of 5 stars just what I need!! I love everything about this book. The pictures were great and creative. It was also easy to follow. The recipes were also easy. Read more Published 9 months ago by A. Lopez 5.0 out of 5 stars A great addition for a cupcake lover! I actually brought this book for a close friend of mine during the Christmas season. Figuring out which book would embrace all aspects of cupcake making was a bit tough. Read more Published 9 months ago by Katherine Bonete Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402719949
• ISBN-13: 978-1402719943
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,737 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #13 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Baking > Cakes
  #32 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Baking > Desserts

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!!!, September 14, 2006

By	Andrew'sMom "creativebaker" (New York) - See all my reviews

If your a crazed cake decorator like myself, you are always looking for different recipes, decorating and presentation ideas...finally a "different" cookbook has arrived.

There are many different recipes inside this large book for the cake and frostings themselves...but the ideas for decorating and presentation are DIFFERENT and some cool displays are presented as well. There are even fancy designs for elegant cupcakes (a tiramusi cupcake!) - petit four type ideas...this alone is worth the price of the book and I'd pay twice the price of this book for that.

Some of the reviews on amazon can go on and on and on - and you fall asleep before you can finish reading them...I don't have time for that -- I don't have time to be doing this review - BUT one thing for sure - if I take the time to give a review on a book it is special and a must have.

BUY THIS BOOK!!!

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crazy for this book!, October 25, 2006

By	Sharon Meltzer (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the only review I'll ever write on Amazon. I felt it was my duty to let everyone know about this fabulous book. If you have any interest in cakes, cupcakes, decorations or baking... you MUST buy this book. I own *many* books on cakes; from recipes to decorations. All with exactly the same information. This book has MORE information about baking and DIFFERENT information about decorating. I've already made marzipan fruit, candied citrus peels, cupcakes, petit fours, cream filled cupcakes and many different types of icing, frostings and sugar pastes. And this is only from reading the first 1/2 of the book. I can't wait to find out what the 2nd 1/2 of the book contains."

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy your status as "Cupcake Goddess"..., April 14, 2007

By	A. Lupia "amlbee" (Branford, CT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I admit to owning six cupcake books (to date...)I know, I know...but cupcakes are just so perfect: Fun to make and decorate, easy to serve and oh, so cool to enjoy eating. This is the most "complete" book I've seen so far.

There is a cupcake for everyone, for every occasion, for all baking and decorating skills. The recipes include the basics found in all the other books, but the variations presented are staggering. Many, many different flavorings, add-ins and batter combinations as well as interesting icings and toppings guarantee lots of opportunities for moving well outside the standards. The presentations range from sophisticated dinner-party-finish to a child's delight.

The book is well organized and the introduction explains the basics of baking, frosting, toppings, substitutions, choices of pans, transporting and storing, plus a bit of cupcake history. (A previous reviewer commented that there is no indication of how many cupcakes the recipes make, or how much frosting you will have...the author states in the introduction that each recipe makes 18-24 medium cupcakes, with some recipes calling for two or more batches; the frosting recipes are geared to the number of cupcakes.)

The decorations are also quite comprehensive with most requiring little cake decorating skills, i.e. pastry bags and Wilton tips. Instead, the author makes great use of small candies, shaved chocolate, fruit and fondant, all of which are described in detail in the introduction so that when you see the pictures, you already have a pretty good idea how she accomplished the finished product.

If there is one slight criticism, it would be that the photos are not usually next to the recipes; sometimes several different cakes are grouped together in one photo. I have become spoiled by the other books which have large, glossy photos of the decorated cupcakes on the page with the recipe or on the facing page: A small price to pay for such a wealth of information and excellent recipes.

And the raves from my girlfriends on chick-nite for the Screwdriver Cupcakes with Spiked Orange Frosting was as enthusiastic as my 17 year-old son's for the Mint Chocolate Chip cupcakes with the Dark Chocolate Icing.

I do so enjoy being considered a cupcake goddess....Thank you, Krystina!