Read The WellDecorated Cake Toba Garrett Christine Mathews Steven Mark Needham 0049725517738 Books

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Product details Paperback 144 pages Publisher Sterling (October 1, 2004) Language English ISBN-10 9781402717734 ISBN-13 978-1402717734 ASIN 1402717733

The WellDecorated Cake Toba Garrett Christine Mathews Steven Mark Needham 0049725517738 Books Reviews

• Love this book! I am a beginning (almost intermediate) level baker/cake artist and really enjoyed this book. It's a great reference book to have if you're planning to make a lot of cakes or start a home-baking business. The step-by-step photos are excellent, as well as her templates. I purchased the book specifically for stringwork and Lambeth method instructions. I was NOT disappointed with Garrett's coverage on both topics. Her royal icing recipe was perfection. My first project using her royal icing, butter cream, and fondant recipes is shown below. Well-done Toba!
• In starting out on my new adventure in cake decorating, complete with signing on for the Wilton Course 1 Cake Decorating class at my local Michael's with my best friend, and on to going absolutely BONKERS and buying up SO much cake decorating stuff that I've lost count, I also decided to treat myself to a cake decorating book or two from here on Ammie, to give me further guidelines beyond the itty-bitty pamphlet that one has to buy for each Wilton course.
  
  Enter Toba Garrett, the many books she's written, and the many reviewers here on that have written about her books.
  
  I decided, since my birthday is exactly a month away, as of today, to treat myself to the big, beautiful book of cake decorating Godliness she's put out, Professional Cake Decorating. I swear I heard angels break into song once I'd unpacked it from the box, and cracked the covers open. But wait - looking through it, it's a bit beyond anyone looking to casually take on cake decorating "just for fun". "Professional Cake Decorating" is as close an approximation as I can imagine to a full-blown culinary school course enclosed within two hard covers. Literally. Down to the precise measurements of most recipe ingredients by weight, not capacity (as many a culinary bigwig will suggest you do, to ensure the greatest accuracy. Can't argue with them there, but it sure isn't the easier way...). Add to that the precise instructions of using candy thermometers to ensure that a given ingredient is at a precise temp prior to adding the next ingredient, as well as assignments at the end of each chapter, given to ensure that you have successfully accomplished such-and-such a task before moving on to the next lesson, where that practiced skill is built further upon. Being an Art Instructor myself, as well as an avid Foodie, I have a great appreciation for the specificity of Ms. Garrett's "Professional Cake Decorating", but... well, even I have to admit that it's quite a bit beyond me, and my skill set, at this point.
  
  Enter this book - the one that I got for my Bestie as a final portion of her birthday present, and presented to her today, so that she can enjoy it while we're still taking our course (which, honestly, has proven to be a bit bare bones for me, but that's another story...). Before handing it over to her, however, I looked through it thoroughly, page by page. And page for page, I found THIS book to be essentially a condensed, simplified, much more user-friendly version of "Professional Cake Decorating" - a version that puts the skills into the hands of one (such as myself), that HAS baked plenty of times before, but has never actually tackled cake decorating (even though I've held onto those 28 Wilton tips I got at a massive discount at Wally World quite a few years back), or even one that has decorated quite a few cakes in the past, after sitting by the side of a mother who was known in her Montana town for decorating beautiful cakes on the side, even selling a few, and treasuring many a Wilton item in her special toolbox (this would be my Bestie).
  
  I wasn't quite sure what to make of all the reviews here, half of which mentioned that this book was perfectly suited for beginners, the other half which claimed it is NOT for beginners - both, actually, are right, in their own way. This book is perfect for those that are beginning their journey in the cake decorating world, but have already gotten their feet wet with baking beyond a cake box, and have some skill in using a properly written recipe. Those that have never baked a thing before - even a potato - may find it a bit beyond them, but that's nothing, I believe, that actually sitting down and fully READING through this book won't fix.
  
  This book is so good, in fact, that I just finished ordering a copy for myself. The pictures in it, and explanations of how to hold the piping bag for a certain technique (piping shells, for instance), on to how to move your hand as you squeeze the buttercream out, on to the finishing gestures needed to properly complete the decoration, help guide you through the techniques almost as if Ms. Garrett herself is there beside you, helping you along. It won't be the easiest thing you've ever done, from the outset, and it WILL require practice, but anything worth doing is worth doing well, and thus is worthy of the practice. This book gives you all of the information you'll need to get those skills in place for classic cake decorating designs, if you take the time to fully absorb the information presented, and practice the skills you'll develop with it. The recipes here are exact to the ones in Professional Cake Decorating, so these ARE Ms. Garrett's preferred recipes. This book just eases you into the cake decorator's pool, while Professional Cake Design bodily throws you in for a sink-or-swim experience. It's all a matter of the effort you want to expend to succeed here.
• First off, let me say I have toba's professional, cookies and wedding cakes books and love them all. The thing about toba's books that many other decorators do not include in their books, is the royal icing and piping in the Australian manner. More about that in a minute......
  She gives you wonderful how to instruction on cakes, with very good recipes. I have tried many of them, and am always pleased. The buttercream recipes are delicious!!! Her way of torting and filling, using something she calls spackling, gives you a perfect, non bulging cake, ready for buttercream or fondant, without the necessity of marzipan layer to make it all smooth and perfect. Her sugar paste flower instruction, while not as extensive as a book devoted more completely to that subject, still has a very good level to get you started. unlike many books, you don't need a million cutters and veiners to get the look. She has a nice section on pulled flowers that requre nothing more than sharp tiny scissors and a sharpened dowel. Of course, I like many, have more cake things than you can imagine, but you don't need them to duplicate many of her looks.
  
  Now for the secret treasure of this book....... There is an old and lovely method of decorating using royal icing and tiny tiny tubes, and lots of time to complete it, and it is called Australian string work, extension work, etc. It is beautiful and ethereal and unlike anything else, and she tells you how to do it. There are older european sugar craft books devoted exclusively to this method, but it is seldom found in an American cake book. She also gives you lovely instruction for the old Lambeth style of overpiping..... It might sound heavy and cumbersome looking, but it isn't at all!!! It is also very time consuming, and lots of practice is required, but you won't see it in a lot of other books. Don't think "heavy buttercream overdone globs", it isn't at all like that. She instructs you on these older techniques, that although not usually cost effective time wise, are still wonderful if you want a challenge. Of course, it is fun to roll out and cut fondant and sugarpaste and decorate a cake that way, but the old techniques really are worth preserving, and she introduces them in this book.
  
  I recommend all her books, each is unique in it's way, and although there is some material covered in all books, that is to be expected. But, each book also stands on it's own as a valuable addition to a collection.