Customer Reviews

Crazy About Cupcakes

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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!

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."

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!!!

I tried my first recipe from the book (Caramel Apple Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting) and it was a hit with my co-workers! I love that the recipes are easy to follow and the author gives a list of combinations for the cupcakes and frostings. I can't wait to try more recipes from the book. It's a very comprehensive cupcake book for the casual or serious baker!

I am on a cupcake kick right now; I love making them for my kids' schools, and for my family and friends. This book has so many great recipes it was hard to pick which one to make first. But I opted for the Pina Colada cupcakes, and they were absolutely delicious. This is the first time I made cupcakes from scratch, and it's a huge difference in taste and texture.

I highly recommend this book if you love to bake.

I bought this book based on the positive reviews and was disappointed. The pictures include sloppy looking decorations that appear to be done by a child instead of a professional baker - so consequesntly they were not that enticing to me. I have other cupcakes books that offer are more polished presentation. I made the carrot cake cupcakes and found them to lack flavor - they were not light and cake-like and were somewhat bland. One major drawback - and my biggest complant about this book is that the recipes do not have an amount or expected yield - how frustrating to make a batch of cupcakes and only get 12! You'll be much happier picking another cupcake book - either Cupcakes: From the Cake Mix Doctor or Cupcakes!

I'm one of those busy office workers who does not seem to have the time to make things. This book is wonderful! It teaches me to slow down and take care in measuring and mixing because the results are absolutely smooth, moist and just divine! I would like to start off by saying that baking is not really my thing because I would not know where to start. In fact, this is the BEST category to start. Cupcakes bring something back from your childhood. The way I think, 3 things would make you smile the most. Children, pets and CUPCAKES!

I'm from Australia and one of the things I find a bit fiddly to adjust is the conversion of everything into metric. I have no idea how many sticks of butter = whatever weight, but luckily google is my friend. All temperatures are to be converted, but it is touch and go a bit with your oven types. I have never overcooked my cupcakes, so it is just a case of leaving things in there a little bit longer until they pass the skewer test.

For a non-cook like me, I love the fact that the ingredients are listed in the order they are being used. Nothing annoys me more than having to jump about the book to work out what I should use, what quantity and how to mix it. It does take absolutely aaaaaaages! More time is left for you to mix things properly and in the desired time.

I've tried many recipes on there but my ultimate favourite is the kahlua + tiramisu combo. One small thing, which is not overly major is that the recipes do not tell you how many cupcakes you make. So you do find that sometimes, you have to make 2 trays + a few more depending again on the oven settings and the rise. But these are the things that are beyond the control of the book, and something you would need to find out yourself.

2 thumbs (and toes) up for this book.

LOVE IT!

I was looking forward to receiving this book and must say that I have been satisfied with my purchase. So far, the recipes are tasty but the decorating instructions are quite vague. I also don't like that the recipe and decorating instructions are not alongside the picture. (You need to find the picture within like 15 pages of the book or use the index) But overall, very nice book.

This book has a bit of an identity crisis. On one hand, it has wonderful decorating ideas and flavor combinations. On the other hand, the recipes are awful. NOT GOOD A.T. A.L.L.!

When I got this book, I was so excited because I make a lot of cakes and cupcakes for my friends. I thought this book would help me "take it up a notch." I was thrilled to find so many decorating ideas and recipes for cupcakes & frostings. However every recipe I've tried (EVERY ONE!!) has turned out dry and bland. As in ... not edible. The kicker came when I tried to make the Irish Cream cupcakes for a friend's Halloween Party, and they AGAIN turned out awful. I wasted SO much Irish Cream on these stupid cupcakes. I WILL NOT use any of the recipes in this book again. I will look at it for ideas, but I will find recipes elsewhere.

Bought this book awhile ago with the thought I could kick box mixes to the curb. As someone else pointed out, there are no yields for any of the recipes. The icing recipes have turned out well; most of the cupcakes have not. Some were dry, some were very wet, and I even tried being very precise. Some of the liquid amounts seem like they were misprinted.