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Cake Books
These are the books I use for making sugarpaste and other cakes. I don't tend to make exact cakes out of the books, but instead use the various examples as inspiration, or learn particular techniques from them.
The books below are rated as follows:
- Overall: 1 = poor, 2 = acceptable, 3 = decent, 4 = good, 5 = excellent
- Price range to expect: under US$10, $10-$20, over $20
- Instruction level: Basic, Intermediate, or Advanced
- Measurements used: Imperial (UK), Imperial (US), or Metric
- List of Recipes Included
- List of Cake Types
- Quick & Easy Novelty Cakes by Carol Deacon
- Overall: 5
- Price range to expect: Out of print, price varies from US$5-$10 on ebay to over US$100 on Amazon third-party shops
- Instruction level: Basic
- Measurements used: Metric primarily, but also Imperial (UK)
- Recipes Included: Madeira cake, chocolate cake, fruit cake, stock syrup, buttercream, royal icing, sugarpaste, gelatin icing, coloured sugar or desiccated coconut.
- Cake Types: paddling pool, burger, toadstool, horrible child, dinosaur, UFO, teddy, snake, enchanted house, pony, computer game, rag doll, soccer, cat and mouse, dopey dog, stuffed elephant, fisherman, handyman, money, shopping bag, frog pond, teatime table, yacht, bouquet, racetrack, golf course, graduation, spider, Valentine lips, knapsack, wedding present, Valentine teddies, Christmas stocking, Christmas firecrackers, get well soon
This was the first cake decorating book I ever had. It is an excellent guide for beginners, with a variety of simple through to intermediate cakes. It is well-written and easy to follow. The only issue I have is with the title: do not expect these cakes to be quick and easy if you've never worked with sugarpaste before. There are some quick ones in the book, but even they require a moderate level of familiarity to do quickly.
- Two-Hour Party Cakes by Carol Deacon
- Overall: 5
- Price range to expect: US$10-$20, out of print but resale copies available for those prices
- Instruction level: Basic
- Measurements used: Metric primarily, but also Imperial (UK)
- Recipes Included: Madeira cake, chocolate sponge cake, fruit cake, microwave cakes, stock syrup, buttercream, royal icing, sugarpaste, gelatin icing, coloured sugar or desiccated coconut, modelling icing (paste).
- Cake Types: fairy-tale castle, hot dog, handyman, wild animals, birthday fairy, Christmas Santas, weary windsurfer, spotted dog, soccer fan, makeup bag, lovebirds, woodland creatures, Santa and friends, dozy dad, piggy bank, baby cake, twitcher, bride and groom, little monster, sports car, chocolate box, gardener's delight, funny bunnies, horse and rider, golfing star, teddy bear, sunbather, party animal, deep-sea fishing, cookery book.
This book is similar to Deacon's other book, although the cakes are more varied and some are more advanced. Instructions are mostly the same, but with some additional tips and hints. Again, the title is misleading: there is no way you could make most of these cakes in two hours. Ms. Deacon knows this herself, and she explained to me in an email when I asked about it that the publisher picked the title. So don't blame the creative and kind Ms. Deacon for the unfortunate title!
- Lovable Character Cakes by Debbie Brown
- Overall: 5
- Price range to expect: Out of print, hard to find, Amazon third party shops list US$60+
- Instruction level: Basic (but cakes themselves are advanced)
- Measurements used: Metric primarily, but also Imperial (UK)
- Recipes Included: Madeira cake, buttercream, royal icing, sugarpaste, pastillage, petal paste, sugar glue, modelling paste.
- Cake Types: Fireman Sam, The Flower Fairies, The Wombles, My Little Pony, Dennis and Gnasher, Kipper, Garfield, Little Miss, Sonic the Hedgehog, Brambly Hedge, Bananas in Pyjamas, Super Mario, Wallace and Gromit, Gromit, Rugrats, Rupert, Babar, Sesame Street, Barney.
This was my second cake decorating book, and really good at teaching me how to take the craft to a higher level. More details on turning sugarpaste into modelling paste and painting on sugar increased my skill level. The instructions are basic, but the cakes themselves are fairly advanced. Don't expect to produce any cake from this book as your first cake, nor to do so quickly.
- Fun Cakes for Special Occasions by Ann Nicol
- Overall: 4
- Price range to expect: Out of print, Amazon third party sellers list at US$3+
- Instruction level: Basic (but many cakes are advanced)
- Measurements used: Metric primarily, but also Imperial (UK)
- Recipes Included: rich fruit cake, light apple fruit cake, quick mix sponge cake, chocolate cake, royal icing, buttercream, fondant, sugarpaste, apricot glaze, almond paste, chocolate paste
- Cake Types: vegetable garden, tennis, cricket, golf ball, embroidery sampler, camera, slimmer's lunch, big bar of chocolate, bunch of tulips, burger, bowl of cherries, ham and eggs, lingerie box, champagne bottle, wedding roses, just married, golden anniversary, christening, chocolate baskets, happy days, blue suede shoes, pig, do-it-yourself, get well soon, Valentine, Easter bonnet, ghost, fireworks, Christmas pudding, Santa at the fireplace, cookie tree, gingerbread house, snowmen scene, chocolate Christmas wreath, bag of presents.
This book contains some different techniques as well as sugarpaste basics, such as making edible decorations with real flowers, using ribbon, etc. The style looks less cartoony on the whole than Brown and Deacon's books.
- International School of Sugarcraft: Book Two, Advanced
- Overall: 4
- Price range to expect: US$10-$20
- Instruction level: Advanced
- Measurements used: Metric primarily, but also Imperial (UK)
- Recipes Included: not really any that I've noticed. Some hints on making certain substances.
- Cake Types: not really any other than the many pictured examples of how to do/use techniques. There are no "how to make an X cake" instructions.
Unlike other books which teach by showing how to do a specific cake, this book teaches techniques on their own. There are good photos showing how the technique was used on a cake, but I haven't found any full-out instructions on how to make an entire cake that is shown. The techniques used are: decorating with chocolate, chocolate eggs and figures, marzipan figure modelling, pastillage and sugar miniatures, tube embroidery, brush embroidery, lace, extension work, creating embroidery and lace designs, bas relief and smocking, and filigree. This is definitely an advanced book, and would likely daunt a beginner. I have barely begun to learn things from this book, although it challenges me to try more new things in the future.
- Creative Cutter Designs by Anne White, part of the Sugar Inspirations series
- Overall: 4
- Price range to expect: out of print, Amazon third party sellers list at US$38+
- Instruction level: Advanced
- Measurements used: Metric primarily, but also Imperial (UK)
- Recipes Included: Mexican paste (seems similar to pastillage), marzipan modelling paste, sugar glue.
- Cake Types: embossed ivy leaf, springtime, smocking cake, sunflower faces, rose petals, winter frost, twin peacocks, town houses, fantasy collar, Russian wedding cake, teddy bear, black lacquerwork.
The cakes in this book are all primarily decorated with shapes made from cookie-cutters. The author shows how to use the cutters in creative ways, including using the negative space, in order to build pictures and sculpt designs. I haven't actually tried any of the techniques yet, but it looks really neat. I should warn that most of the cutters used in the books look very specialized and fancy, and may not be easily found in your average kitchen shop. Get this book to learn the techniques more than to do the pictured examples exactly.
- Sugar Embroidery by Adrian Westrope and Pat Trunkfield, part of the Sugar Inspirations series
- Overall: 4
- Price range to expect: out of print, Amazon third party sellers list at US$45+
- Instruction level: Advanced
- Measurements used: Metric primarily, but also Imperial (UK)
- Recipes Included: royal icing (two kinds), sugar glue, gum glue, and Mexican paste (appears to be similar to pastillage).
- Cake Types: satin sampler Christening cake, patchwork bag, fuchsia greetings card, cross stitch building blocks, Belgian-style lace, quilted cushion, smocked Christmas stocking, snowman beadwork cake, brush-embroidered wedding cake, embroidered badges, Victorian lace fan.
Most of the techniques in this book involve a great deal of piping, so I haven't done any of them. I'm bad at piping, largely due to the pain in my wrist that surfaces every time I try to do fine piping work. Still, the cakes are really nice, and there are some good pointers and techniques. Some of the cakes require specialty cutters, so you shouldn't buy this to do every cake in it so much as to learn the techniques in general.
- Anniversary Cakes by Mary Tipton, part of the Sugar Inspirations series
- Overall: 4
- Price range to expect: out of print, Amazon third party sellers list at $60+, ebay lists for US$16+ (from UK)
- Instruction level: Advanced
- Measurements used: Metric primarily, but also Imperial (UK)
- Recipes Included: modelling paste, pastillage, royal icing, Madeira cake, light fruit cake, fondant buttercream.
- Cake Types: first, seventh, tenth, thirteenth, twentieth, twenty-fifth, thirtieth, fortieth, and fiftieth anniversaries.
This book gives good ideas for specific anniversaries, based on the traditional gift for those anniversaries (i.e. gold for fiftieth). The techniques aren't taught as thoroughly as in other books, making this a book only for advanced cake decorators. I am not yet advanced enough to attempt most of the techniques shown.
- Wild Flowers by Alan Dunn, part of the Sugar Inspirations series
- Overall: 4
- Price range to expect: My version is out of print, but Amazon lists a new version for less than US$10 (please note that I have not seen it and am only assuming it's the same based on Amazon's internal links), otherwise Amazon third party sellers list the version I have for US$45+
- Instruction level: Advanced
- Measurements used: Metric primarily, but also Imperial (UK)
- Recipes Included: glaze, flower paste.
- Flower/Cake Types: lords and ladies, wood crane's bill, ramsons, speedwell, spring woodland cake, white waterlily, waterlily cake, hop, horse chestnut, wild poppy, hawthorn, traveller's joy, hogarth curved spray, autumn glory cake, foxglove, fern, foxglove cake, white bryony, honeysuckle, wild rose, scented summer cake.
I have not tried to make a sugar flower yet, because I worry that it is too delicate and I will annoy myself. Plus, so far I've tried to keep my cakes entirely edible, and the flowers use wire. But I want to try a floral cake someday, and I anticipate using this book as a major part of learning how. The instructions look a bit daunting, going from the basic step where you roll something out, to *poof*, a finished flower. This is definitely not beginner stuff!
- Roses in Sugar by Chris Jeffcoate and Jackie Kuflik, part of the Sugar Inspirations series
- Overall: 4
- Price range to expect: out of print, Amazon third party sellers list at US$45+
- Instruction level: Advanced
- Measurements used: Metric primarily, but also Imperial (UK)
- Recipes Included: royal icing, modelling marzipan, flower paste.
- Rose/Cake Types: piped roses, rosebud cake, ruby wedding cake, marzipan roses, marzipan birthday cake, cutter rose, rose leaves, gateau vert, five-petal cutter rose, hogarth rose spray, tablecloth cake, old-fashioned rose, briar rose, briar rose cake, colouring roses.
As above, I have not tried sugar flowers yet because I don't think I'm ready for this kind of delicate work. However, the instructions in this book looks fairly through, and I will probably try some in the future. Until then, all I can say about this book is it shows a variety of ways to make roses, some looking more difficult than others. The cakes look delicate, but not impossible with practise. Some of the rose types use floral wire.
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