88 of 88 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FABULOUS, September 14, 2006
This review is from: Professional Cake Decorating (Hardcover)
This really is a comprehensive, excellent instruction book and it is appropriate for people at all levels of cake decorating experience. Toba Garrett covers everything from start to finish and at the end of each lesson she provides a self-quiz that will help you see how much you have learned, practice each technique and make sure you understand the terminology that goes with this exciting career/hobby.
I teach cake decorating at a local craft store and I own my own cake decorating business and Toba is an inspiration and my absolute favorite cake decorator. If you want to learn anything about the art of cake decorating, this book is worth the price! It could replace all the other cake books in my library all at once. Oh - and the recipes are fabulous too! Try the chocolate fudge cake recipe if you like chocolate cake, it's OUT OF THIS WORLD.
I want to mention that the recipes have the ingredient measurements for both a 5-6 quart mixer and a 20 quart mixer for those who are starting a kitchen with bigger equipment.
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85 of 88 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To all bakers and chefs............start your ovens!!!!, September 28, 2006
This review is from: Professional Cake Decorating (Hardcover)
Stop the presses!!! Look no further all ye students of culinary arts!! You have reached the highest plateau of education!!
Ms. Garrett has compiled and indexed and joyfully created the encyclopedia of baking skills for anyone to study, and learn, and she has done so by teaching as straight forward and honestly as possible. While some high-priced bakers write books in the guise of having you think they will share their guarded secrets, Ms. Garrett actually delivers on her promise. You will feel that you have wisely chosen a great teaching tool as you realize the knowledge you hold in your hands, courtesy of Toba.
This labor of love, which was borne out of the need and requests of family, friends, and students, will take you from the initial step to the final step of cake baking, assembly, and decorating. I cannot think of anything that she has forgotten in bringing this craft to you in a book form.
I have many cake decorating books, and I truly feel that this effort far surpassed any of the volumes that are sitting on my shelves. It is comprehensive and thorough, and if at some point, you wish to get more detailed, all you would need is your imagination to guide you.
My grandest wish was to undertake the knowledge necessary for the skill of piping and design; it is an old world art from England and Australia and mastery of this will put you in league with those who catered to aristocracy of centuries gone by. This skill involves creating all those thread-thin lines of icing that are shaped into delicate lace-like pieces that you gently place upon a cake; the crisss-cross patterns or bridge-like paper thin lines that connect to one another to form trellis' and such; fleurs-de-lis with drop strings; brush embroidery and...........oh the inpsiration is endless! Therefore in lesson 11 of this tome, she divulges and devotes her knowledge to impart to you this fabulous skill. For me, this chapter alone was worth the price!! Lace designs, trellis works, ring designs.
And of course she teaches the basic skills of flower making or animal shaped ideas; marzipan shaped into fruit; how to decorate cookies that go way beyond frosting and more.
Her chapters are:
Basic piping skills
FLoral piping skills
Intermiediate piping skilss
Advanced border skills
The art of writing
Royal icing piped flowers
Royal icing design skills
The art of icing a cake
Hand modeling skills
Marzipan and chocolate modeling
Advanced royal icing piping and design skills
Rolled icing design skills
Pastillage construction
Gumpaste flowers; basic floral skills
Advanced gumpaste flowers
Miniature cakes and decorated cookies
Cake borders, color charts, painting, and more techniques
Cake and confectionary gallery
Recipes
Patterns
Measurement
Bibiliography
Index
She has covered every aspect of making a cake from the recipes to the actually physical construction of the cake to the decorations you place on it. She provides plenty of detailed instruction along with excellent photographs and idea's; there is a chapter that goes into both the English and metric version of batter and icing amounts; patterns to use for the designs as well as for cutting the cake, wonderful recipes for deliciously flavored cake batters, all the frostings and icings you can think of and so much more.
You will not be disappointed in this grand presentation from one of the finest instructors this country has to offer!! She is an esteemed member of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, and she more than proven herself by the devotion of her students as well as the growing multitude of admirers and "home" students who has been trained as well. A profound thank you Ms. Garrett!!
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most thorough, well-organized books for (wannabe) professionals, February 12, 2007
This review is from: Professional Cake Decorating (Hardcover)
Some books may have prettier photographs, but nowhere else will you get as thorough an education on technique. Don't get me wrong, the look and feel of the book is still quite nice - just packed with information rather than just glossy pictures. Directions are precise and based on years of experience and training internationally. I love this book because it can take any beginner at cake decorating to a level more advanced than most high-end New York cake decorators - just this one book. Toba Garrett makes other artists' work look like childsplay. I've browsed through tons of other books on cake decorating, bought a few including Colette Peters' Cakes to Dream On, but none of them get you through as many techniques, nor present techniques nearly as complex and professional, as Toba Garrett's Professional Cake Decorating. To be honest, most Americans probably have never even seen most of this stuff in their lives. The savvy might know fondant, but how many people have seen brush embroidery or English and Australian string work (using royal icing to create lacelike effects suspended off the side of a cake)?
In a nutshell, if you're content smothering a yellow cake you made from a box with crisco and sprinkles, don't buy this book. But if you want to learn how to use some of the world's most amazing cake decorating techniques to create one-of-a-kind masterpieces that are too beautiful to eat (and taste good too thanks to delicious recipes for both cakes, fillings, and other items) buy this book and get on the waiting list for one of Toba Garrett's classes in New York at ICE.
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