The Beginner's Guide to Cake Decorating

A Step-by-Step Guide to Decorate with Frosting, Piping, Fondant, and Chocolate and More

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Pub Date 19 Apr 2022 | Archive Date 7 Jun 2022

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Description

Learn the basics of decorating cakes with this super-simple guide for beginners

Decorating your own cakes is both fun and easy with cake maven Autumn Carpenter at your side. In The Beginner’s Guide to Cake Decorating, adapted from her best-selling First Time Cake Decorating, you’ll learn everything about the basic tools you will need, hacks to make cake decorating easy, and how to plan and design your own cake style. This book is the only basic primer you will need to get started.

Other books on cake decorating are often overwhelming, offering unattainable expert-level ideas and complicated instructions, but The Beginner’s Guide to Cake Decorating sticks to the basics so you get the results you want. You will be able to decorate cakes for any occasion, from baby showers to birthdays. With fuss-free instructions and no-fail results, you will not only impress your friends and family, but yourself too!

This accessible, easy-to-follow cake decorating reference features:
 
  • All the information you need to get started—The book includes essential equipment and tools; recipes for cakes, fillings, frostings, icings, and fondants; introductory techniques; and hacks and shortcuts to make everything easier.
  • A variety of methods and styles—Choose from a wide range of techniques, including piping, molding, hand modeling, stencils, and more, and styles from flowers to banners and ribbons to letters.
  • Crystal-clear instructions—Photographic step-by-step projects will help you learn the basics so you can customize your own designs successfully.

The best place to start your cake customizing exploration is this all-in-one beginner’s guide from one of cake decorating’s best teachers!
Learn the basics of decorating cakes with this super-simple guide for beginners

Decorating your own cakes is both fun and easy with cake maven Autumn Carpenter at your side. In The Beginner’s Guide...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780760379608
PRICE US$14.99 (USD)
PAGES 144

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (PDF)

Average rating from 31 members


Featured Reviews

I liked the layout of this book and how the author chose to highlight things she thinks are important for the reader to be aware of and remember. It's very thorough in the information given and has step-by-step images for most of the instructions. I wasn't overly keen on the title page's colour choices for some of the chapters ( the green and purple combo slightly hurt my eyes) but overall I really liked this and I think it'd be a useful addition to anyone who enjoys cake decorating.

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This is a fun book to help the novice home baker make their cakes more beautiful. I love the color pictures that demonstrates how to do the flowers or borders. The books starts at the beginning with how to make the cake and to level that cake before icing. It uses many different tools to create decorations. Whether out of fondant or buttercream, There are step by step directions to make all kinds of beautiful flowers.

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I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Omg I can't wait to try some of these designs! I love to bake I am just not very good with decorating (I am not an artist). But these seem easy and I can't wait to try! Love the pictures also!

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This was an interesting read and an aptly named guide. Simple steps to decorate a cake. From cutesy flowers to rolling out fondant.

What did I like? Gorgeous step by step directions, clearly a book to help you come up with some delicious ideas. From baking, to icing, and then the sweet decorations. It’s all here! Torting and filling cakes was my favorite!

Would I recommend or buy? This is definitely going on my wishlist! Even if you aspire to do cupcakes this book will work! I really enjoyed a peek at this book! Five amazing stars!

The publisher granted me a complimentary copy to look at, salivate, and I voluntarily left this review!

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This is exactly what I needed to read! I have birthdays coming up and I’ve bookmarked lots of pages. The techniques and suggestion is very helpful, as well, as the photos for every step! I highly recommend this to anyone learning. Thank you to the publisher for a gifted copy.

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I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful and helpful book!

This is a pretty thorough guide to decorating cakes. There are full-page color photos with instructions for things like placing fondant, smoothing icing, and making frosting designs and flowers. There's icing recipes and information on preparing cakes to decorate as well as some fun decoration ideas. There are helpful tips throughout the book to help you make well-decorated cakes.

Overall a nice find!

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Beautiful photos, delicious recipes, and easy to follow step-by-step instructions will have readers wanting to dive into their first creation!

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This is a great book with step by step techniques, including color photos, for decorating with frosting, piping tips, fondant, and chocolate. It covers making flowers, animals, people, and chocolate transfers. There are some basic cake and frosting recipes, and a very helpful chart of lots of round and square cake pan sizes and how much batter, filling, and frosting is needed. The book also covers all the steps to take to get your cake ready for decoration.
One note/comment I will make is that this book will teach you what to do, but it does not, other than the section intro pages, have images of completed cakes. You would need to have an idea in mind or an image already of the cake you are trying to achieve and come here to learn how to do it, because there are not inspiration photos in here.
I am looking forward to using this book to expand on my decorating skills.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This is a good starting point for someone interested in the art of cake decorating. It had plenty of pictures and diagrams to illustrate the text, The icing recipes are varied and the techniques are simple enough to pick up on. The only thing I would point out is that you can also use other cutting machines besides the Cricut, allowing that you follow the proper precautions.
I received this book as a Netgalley ARC and offer my opinions gratis.

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This is a fantastic, comprehensive guide to cake decorating. Beginner and advanced cake decorators can learn from the tips and tricks in this book. It teaches you how to properly cut and level, fill, frost, and decorate cakes with fondant and other beautiful edible shapes.

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This ‘how to’ cake decorating book covers everything you ever wanted to know when it comes to making your bakes look beautiful. The instructions are clear, simple and in easy to follow wording, and the step by step close up photographs guide you through each individual component of the decoration you’re doing.. It talks you through all the essential equipment, so you’re prepped and ready to go from the off. It covers everything from hand piping techniques, to fondant rolling. It’s definitely given me the confidence to have a go at decorating - something I’ve always shied away from. If you’re wanting to give cake decorating a go, I’d definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry and Netgalley for an eARC of this book to read and review.

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A great starting point for someone interested in the art of cake decorating. It had plenty of pictures and diagrams to illustrate the text, The icing recipes are varied and the techniques are simple enough to pick up on. The only thing I would point out is that you can also use other cutting machines besides the Cricut, allowing that you follow the proper precautions.

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This comprehensive guide to cake decorating provides step-by-step instructions with photographs, making it an essential guide for home bakers who want to up their cake decoration game. The book is split into four parts -- basic cake preparation, piping, fondant/gum paste accents, and miscellaneous techniques.

The basic cake prep section of the book is almost 40 pages and covers the tools you need for baking and decorating (and why certain tools are not good for decorating); how to bake the cake; recipes for common icings; methods for icing, stacking, and transporting cakes; and a helpful chart of how much cake batter is needed for common cake sizes.

The piping section covers how to construct and fill piping bags, what the bag tips to use, and techniques for creating common piped designs. The fondant and gum paste chapter covers methods for creating people, animals, plants, and other frills for decorations. The final section covers other techniques like stenciling, using edible papers, painting cakes, working with chocolate, and using the Cricut Cake machine.

The instructions are easy to follow and include step-by-step photos to help the reader along the way.

This guide is a wonderful tool for cake bakers just learning to decorate or those who are looking to branch out and learn new skills.

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The beginner’s guide to cake decorating is a very useful as well as helpful book for aspiring baker to learning to decorate a cake. It’s a go to book for every beginner. I liked that the author have used a very attractive layout in the presentation of the book, which makes it very attractive to the reader. The author have also provided pictures for every technique she has shown, which makes it easy for the reader the understand. The author also touches on lot of useful technique, which are the basics that every cake decorators should know.

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I'm not a novice when it comes to cake decorating, however, I found this book to be very helpful even though the title says "for the beginners". This book is very thorough and comprehensive, and contains many step-by-step instructions with beautiful photos. If you're a visual learner, this book is a party for your eyes! This book covers pretty much everything from baking, leveling, making buttercream and such and includes pictures of tools, techniques and suggestions which are very helpful whether you're a beginner or an advanced cake decorator. However, as another review mentioned, it does not show final product of completed cakes, so just be mindful that you have to use your imagination how your cakes or baked good will look.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learned a lot from it. If you're into cake decorating, I'd definitely recommend this book as it covers plenty of information from basics to advanced level!

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This book really helps to build skills starting with the simplistic use of decorating tips to pipe borders to expanding your creativity with flowers and decorative art.

Even if you are not new to decorating, the layout and instructions can help you brush on your techniques and help you expand your skills with tips and tricks for using different materials for decorating.

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Have you wanted to get started on decorating cakes? Not sure where to start and what items you will need, then this is a great book to have. The author provides you with detailed lists of items you will need and describes each one so you are not left with any questions.

I found this book to be a wonderful starting point. There are even a few icing recipes for you to try. The pictures in the book are exquisite and really help the reader understand clearly what the section is about.

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This is a great guide to cake decoration for beginners. The step by step photos help a lot! This book teaches you what tools to use, piping techniques, fondant, and other techniques. There's also recipes for fillings and icing and lots of tips and tricks. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

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Want to have attractive cakes?
Co-owner of a confectionary supply store, sugar artist, and teacher Autumn Carpenter presents her book "The Beginner's Guide to Cake Decorating. A Step-by-Step Guide to Decorate with Frosting, Piping, Fondant, and Chocolate and More", published by Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry (New Shoe Press). The book is divided into four sections: 1) Basic Cake Preparation, 2) Piping Techniques, 3) Fondant and Gum Paste Accents, and 4) Miscellaneous Techniques. Carpenter wants to share her passion with her readers and states: "It is likely that cake decorating will soon become your passion. With practice and patience, you can become a great cake decorator. Have fun learning and remember: There is no right or wrong way to decorate a cake. Over time, you will develop a unique style. Cake decorating is an art and the iced cake is your canvas" (p. 7). The book contains a very detailed section about tools for baking and decorating cakes and Carpenter shows throughout the book how they are used. There are tips like "Perfecting Butter cream", "Reviving Paste", "Crumb Control", or "Perfecting Fondant" included in the book as well as resources and an index. I highly appreciate that the measurements are in cups and milliliters / ounces and kilograms and the temperatures are in °F and °C. I highly recommend this book since the step-by-step approach is a help for beginners and experienced decorators can find new inspiration and new techniques.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#TheBeginnersGuideToCakeDecorating #Netgalley

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I received a complementary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Every woman needs to own this book in her kitchen. The techniques and suggestions in the book are very helpful, as well, as the photos for every step! I highly recommend this to beginners such as me. Get it!

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This is a lovely book to start anyone off on their journey to cake decorating. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my piping tools, but hope to try some of those techniques laid out in the book soon. I did make two of the recipes (there aren't many) that are included: caramel filling, and buttercream icing. The caramel filling was very simple and absolutely divine in my dark chocolate cake. I opted to add cocoa to the buttercream for chocolate icing and my family who usually spurns buttercream licked their plates clean!

Highly recommend.

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