The Art of the Cake: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide to Baking and Decorating Perfection

i love to browse thru recipe and cake decorating books and found this to be verrrry helpful... this book is a very good guide to simply elegant decorating ideas and wonderful recipes all in very simple, step by step ways... i stayed away from some of these types of decorating because i thought they were hard,.. this book shows they actually aren't! This book, together with Wedding Cakes You Can Make (which is a step by step everything you need to know to make successful wedding cakes) are absolutely, in my opinion, all you need to have for a very successful cake business. The sky is the limit!

I like the book, I especially like that the recipes are broken down into different proportions for the different cake pans, so I don't need to make batter for a 12inch pan when im making an 8 inch cake. I just wish there were more cake recipes.

Before beginning, I wanted to mention that this book is under two different titles: "The Art of the Cake" and "Cake Masterclass". Both are by Mich Turner and though the titles are different, the book is the same.This was a most wonderful, compact tutorial on the art of the decorated cake. It's sharp, to-the-point, and vividly photographed therefore a good education for those who are not beginners but who are not at the upper end of cake decorating, but are getting there. A strong, solid knowledgement of the basics of cake decorating would be most useful though if you are the adventurous type and feel that you can jump-start yourself from her first couple of chapters, have a go at it, but be patient; the techniques may not be easy at first try but in time, become a joy in the decorating process.Mich Turner is a very well-known and gifted "artist" of cakes. Her shop, Little Venice Cake Comapny, is located in London and has a very devout following among regular folks, celebrities, and even royalty. Her creations range from the elegant yet simple to those more elaborate designs that cause people to seek out her talents for very special occasions.There are over 200 pages of "class" that our Professor of Piping and Couture teaches and you won't want to miss any classes! From mini-cakes to the ultimate in sophisticated wedding pleasure, Ms. Turner seems to have gentle way of presenting her knowledge to you and therefore make you an eager student.I personally am most appreciative of the time, thought, and expense that was given to the photographic portion of this book. Granted, you cannot write a teaching book without photographs, but getting the right photographer to capture the essence of what you want to impart, takes knowledge from the author. It seems that Ms. Turner hasn't skimped on the visuals as they bring the instruction to light. Much of the photography is quite close and pristine with vivid colors throughout.The contents are broken into 10 sections:Essential EquipmentCake BakingFillings and FrostingsCareful Covering and StackingMaster ClassCake GalleryTemplatesUseful AdressesIndexAcknowledgementsEssential Equipment:Tools, pans, decorating pieces and their elements are presented and explained.Cake Baking:Methods of incorporating ingredients is important especially as some batters do better if you alternate wet and dry while others so well in just putting them all in together; Mich gives a brief intro to batter methods. Then she begins the recipe portion with delicious recipes that cover a spectrum of tastes and preferences (carrot, vanilla, chocolate, cherry, fruitcakes, cupcakes, etc). Some of the recipes are straightforward while others have a grid of sorts, that gives the portions needed dependent on the size of the cake pan.Fillings and Frostings:A rainbow of sweet, sugary, thick, and thin icings. Mercy!Careful Covering and Stacking:The essence of making your cake ready to decorate is in the covering of the baked cake itself. Without a proper covering with a good medium, your decorations will not shine, they will not adhere, they will not show the beauty of what it could be. So Ms. Turner gives recipes and formulas and encouragement which in turn give you much excitement in this mundane but essential step. She finishes with a short presentation on stacking; personally speaking, I have made dummy cakes in order to really this this part of cake decorating down pat. This way, making mistakes is never a problem as you can remove the "mistake" and do it over; this is a perfect way of perfecting this necessary step.Masterclass:Now the fun begins!!! The piping of dots and lines, scrolls and stars, bows, leaves, and the basketweave is written and illustrated with ease. My favorite part was the pressure piping because I love the look of damask and scroll work! Run-outs are a breeze and very impressive. This is where you make an outline of an object then with another piece of paper on top, you trace the object with royal icing; let it dry then peel it off and use to decorate your cake. Definitely give this a try; her example is a bountiful butterfly. When you're done, you'll be waiting for the butterfly to flutter off the cake!!! Her instruction then continues with hand-molded roses, bumblebees, and ladybugs. The next section treats you to the use of cutters and techniques to make roses, poppies, and daffodils.nextThe next part of this section entails the use of ribbon work and handpainting for the "arteest" within you!Cake Class:This is why all the effort!!! These are some of the most beautiful cakes I've seen with the Art Nouveau and Pretty in Pink cakes outstanding! The mini-cakes were so pristine and delicate that they are too pretty to eat. Many of the cakes look detailed and labor intensive regarding the decoration but some are really not, and that's the beauty of her mixing all cake types. One example of this is her chocolate cake with chocolate bands of bows and glitter-red roses: wow!! She also included some lovely fruit cakes with chocolate curls for the sides; exquisite presentations! Seasonal cakes with characters are also demonstrated. And for a really special treat, her True Blue was another outstanding presentation with painted blue butterflies and blue daisy run-outs on a pristine white background of round cakes with white ribbon-banded baseboards; a very crisp, clean, and fresh invitation to celebrate with the bride and groom!The remaining sections cover the particulars of templates and resources.Hopefully you now have a quick glimpse into this wonderful offering from Mich Turner. I think that for those seeking to really build their skills, this will encourage and direct you on that path. Peace.

If you already have ONE of Mich Turner's books, I may say you have them all. It seems to be that she copies most of one book to the other. Even the last one contains same recipes and half of the pictures that contains this book.

This book is very nice lots of very good information I look forward to using it when I look at cake designs.

Really informative!! Good instructions; good pictures; helpful advice; have not tried all the recipes, but they look really good. Great!

I'm a newbie in decorating world. But have passion about it, so I bought many books and learn at home instead go to Wilton class or something like that. One day I watch in youtube about Mich Turner's fruit cake and decided to buy the book because I need a really good recipe about fruit cake. So, I bought the book and glad I did....many good recipes and idea inside this book.

Great step by step

There are some lovely recipes in this book and I found the detailed descriptions of how to make each design easy to follow. I particularly liked the painted cakes. As this is an American book the measurements are in cups.

Será que soy una fanática de la decoracion de pasteles, pero cuando veo las creaciones de Mich Turner, Peggy Porschen, por citar algunas, pienso que maravilla lo que pueden hacer. este libro es un claro ejemplo de ello y de lo más recomendable. Muchísimas ilustraciones.

Molto bello, molto inglese dopo che hai preso questo, le torte del maestro non ti serve piú, penso sia l'edizione precedente ma praticamente se scambi le copertine non cambia nulla...:-)

This is definitely not the 'ultimate guide' as the title suggests. There are some good ideas, but I do believe that the sugarpaste work can be a bit more delicate.

Decorazioni banali e insulse, sul mercato ed a questo prezzo c'è sicuramente di meglio.vale la pena cercare altre cose fatte meglio.