Professional Cake Decorating at Chef2Chef

"…every lesson is easy to follow…" (Cakes and Sugarcraft, Spring Issue)

Book Description
Everything you need to create stunning cake decorations

Cake decorating is an art with specific skills that must be studied and practiced before they can be mastered. Professional Cake Decorating is the first guidebook, reference, and at-your-fingertips resource to the special methods and techniques unique to cake decorating.

Professional Cake Decorating is:

• a comprehensive set of lessons designed to teach the skills needed in cake decorating, including basic, intermediate, and advanced piping skills; hand modeling; and gumpaste flowers
• a powerful tool for making dramatic improvements in the overall look and design of cakes
• a valuable training handbook and resource for bakers and decorators
• a comprehensive reference of successful professional skill sets

Using more than 200 step-by-step and finished cake color photographs, as well as over 125 illustrations, this highly visual book covers a wealth of techniques for cake borders, piped flowers, cake writing and piping, royal icing designs, marzipan fruits and figurines, rolled icing, floral patterns, petit fours, gumpaste floral art and design, and much more. Thorough coverage also includes such foundation skills as making shells, rosettes, reverse shells, zigzags, fleur-de-lis, rope, garlands, scrolls, rosebuds, and other confectionary designs.

Complete with more than three dozen tried-and-tested recipes, Professional Cake Decorating is the only book that places the rewards of thirty years of training, traveling, teaching, and private practice in your hands! It is a must-have for today's bakers, cake decorators, specialty shop owners, and independent cake designers.

Reader Reviews
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!!