The Essential Cake Decorating Guide (Thunder Bay Essential Cookbooks) [Hardcover]

Wendy Stephen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Cake Decorating Guide offers hints and notes on unusual ingredients, while step-by-step photographs guide the reader through many tricky techniques. Included is a comprehensive pictorial guide to essential equipment with detailed instructions on the best ways to use and maintain them. Preparation pages with step-by-step photographs and easy-to-follow instructions explain different methods that make this book perfect for bakers of all ages and abilities. Beautifully photographed glossaries show unusual ingredients and food varieties with their common and not-so-common names. Snippets of related history add interest while colorful double-page features provide a wealth of information on buying, storing and preparing some of the more unusual ingredients. Over 500 full-color photographs are featured.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Thunder Bay Press (July 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592230008
• ISBN-13: 978-1592230006
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #112,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

  #95 in

  Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Baking > Cakes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the Buttercream at Heart, January 25, 2005

By	J. Sheriff (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Cake Decorating Guide (Thunder Bay Essential Cookbooks) (Hardcover)

This would be an essential guide if you work with fondant, mold gumpaste flowers, or model paste figures. There are step-by-step photos about how to make a wide variety of flowers, how to use basic tips for piping, how to model a variety of animals and people, and how to marbelize fondant. There are some gorgeous fondant designs--my favorites are the stacked pastel square packages, a castle, a teddy bear picnic, and a white-on-white Christmas cake. There are also some wedding cake designs that are quite different from anything you'd find in a Wilton yearbook.

This guide also offers a great section on elegant gateaux, from custard meringue to tiramisu, cappuccino truffle, and pears with a spun toffee halo, all with beautiful pictures. It also includes basic cake recipes, as well as decorating tips with pastillage, run-outs or colorflow, and a variety of other techniques.

There are a number of recipes and designs to inspire a baker or any decorator with a flair for fondant. If you'd rather pipe your icing and use molded chocolate accents, it's not an essential guide to cake decorating for you . . . just nice to look through the pictures.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!, July 22, 2005

By	Debbie U "Debbie" (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Cake Decorating Guide (Thunder Bay Essential Cookbooks) (Hardcover)

This book has some of everything in it. If you are interested in exploring methods beyond basic buttercream this is your book! Well written for the average beginner to cake decorating it gives you step by step instructions for so many decorating techniques. A great book for anyone attempting a new technique. You will learn enough to know whether or not you want to persue the technique further.

Debbie

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great gift, now I want one!, August 13, 2008

By	M. G. Holmes (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Essential Cake Decorating Guide (Thunder Bay Essential Cookbooks) (Hardcover)

I purchased this book as a gift for an aspiring cake decorator at the age of 15 - and, of course, had to browse through it first! Despite the huge collection of cake books I've managed to accumulate in the last few years, and the constant baking and recipe experimentations going on in my kitchen, I was captivated by how accessible, yet professional and versatile it is. Starting with all the basics, it goes in details and techniques, which are clearly explained and easy to follow. Loved it - I'm buying another one for my own cake decorating library.

One thing a beginner may find confusing is the fact that the recipes are listed in weight - read: you need a good kitchen scale. Weighing ingredients produces much more consistent results than using the popular cup/spoon measures, so don't be scared by this. Instead, befriend the kitchen scale to enjoy scrumptious cakes under the masterful decorations - which this book definitely guides through and helps achieve.