Customer Reviews

The Perfect Wedding Cake

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

 

 

As an experienced cake decorator looking for new ideas, I was not impressed with this book. The examples were a bit staid. I would not even recommend it for new bakers since there are no explicit guidelines for making the decorations, constructing the cakes, etc. I would recommend The Well Decorated Cake by Toba Garrett. The instructions are simple and easy to follow even for the novice. And the recipes are wonderful. I have tested almost every one and had great results the first time.

Sadly, I was extremely underwhelmed by this book. It is just a collection of some above-average cake decorating. There are no instructions on how to make the sugar paste flowers or decorations. A better book would be Margaret Braun's Cakewalk. This book, however, is great for beginners or clueless brides. For us pastry folks, I recommend you pass on it.

This whimsical book features 35 full color and 10 black and white photographs of wedding cakes. The diversity of the cakes is the real strength to this book. Many modern books focus primarily on fondant-covered cakes (the cover of this book is a fondant cake), but this book strikes out into buttercream and even stacked pastry cakes. The variety of cakes in this book is a great value-add for brides.

The book is arranged topically. Chapters include an Introduction to Wedding Cake Lore and History, Cake Flavors Fillings and Icings, Choosing a Wedding Cake Baker, and even Recipes for Baking Your Own Cake. While the majority of brides will prefer to purchase a cake, the inclusion of recipes will help brides understand exactly what goes into making a wedding cake, ensuring that the brides who read this book are well-educated consumers.

The cake designs feature modern and classic inspirations. On page 18, you will find a fondant cake covered in impeccable gum paste roses and calla lillies. On page 22 you will find a buttercream cake adorned with chocolate seashells and coral, perfect for a summer wedding. On page 28, you will find the modern favorite tilted design, accented with gold and metallic colors. You will even discover a stacked cupcake design as an alternative to a traditional tiered cake.

Creatively written for the bride, this is an essential guide to choosing your wedding cake. For friends of the bride, this makes a lovely gift.

As I looked for a book that would assist my dearest friend, plan the perfect wedding for her daughter?I was fortunate enough to come across a copy of ??The Perfect Wedding Cake??. This beautifully photographed collection of wedding cakes not only provided us with practical information (such as how to choose a baker, in addition to a resource guide to the best cake designers in the US), it made a glorious coffee table book as well. Moreover, the recipes inspired my single friends to create some of the cakes for occasions that call for a touch of ??decadence??! Why wait for a wedding to make one of these gorgeous cakes?

The only cake I actually considered from this book was the one on the cover. I was not pleased with many of the other selections on the inside. If you are looking for something traditional, which I am, then this book is probably not for you. Even if you were to find something you liked, I must caution you that this book lacks the instructions needed to be provided to a baker/designer in order to accomplish the re-creation of many of these cakes. There are some impressive masterpieces in this book but none that I haven't already seen displayed in various bridal magazines that I have previously purchased. Also, the cakes in this book carry a heavty price tag so be prepared to go over budget if you decide to set your heart on one of them.

This very beautiful little book also turned out to be extremely useful to this father planning a wedding with his daughter. The book is chock full of fun facts as well as sound advice about chosing a cake and cake maker to suit you. The book's great photographs of fabulous cakes gave my daughter lots of fun ideas. And the list of cake makers is a valuable resource.

My daughter and I spent some intimate and fun time together with this book and my daughter felt she got her perfect cake in the process. This book would be a welcome gift for any woman or family approaching a wedding.

This enchanting book is packed with all the information a bride needs about selecting, serving, and preserving a wedding cake.

Yummy photos of great cakes. A couple of recipes for the intrepid. Tips about choosing a baker. Wedding cake etiquette (you wouldn't want to smash one of these cakes in the groom's face). A great resource guide that covers the entire U.S. and locations overseas.

All this and the history of wedding cakes, too.

The most beautiful cakes I have ever seen! I loved this book. It makes me want to get married all over again. Thank goodness I have daughters. Boy, are we going to have fun. I plan to give The Perfect Wedding Cake book to, two recently engaged women I know.
The photogaphy by Zeva Oelbaum is exceptional. Buy the book just to have copies of the "seside"cake and the cake made for a fall wedding.
Ms. Manchester not only gives readers interesting historical information, but also provides recipes and a resource guide to cake designers all over the USA.
Congratulations Ms. Manchester, on finally giving the bride and groom a beautiful and practical guide on how to create "a show stopping centerpiece" for one of the most important days of their new life together.

Very disappointing! Don't waste your money on this book. While it is a very "pretty" book with "pretty" photo's of cakes, all it is is a compilation of all the recipes and techniques from the real cake creators, who have already put out their own books (such as Colette Peters, Sylvia Weinstock, etc). There is NOTHING original here and I was very surprised that this type of book would have been given the time and money needed to publish something that has already been done by the great ones.

So many beautiful cakes! I made a friends wedding cake based on one of the cakes in this book and it came out so pretty! There were many helpful tips but basically I used this book for inspiration.