Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved cooking and baking. And perfecting new techniques when it comes to creating delicious dishes is always a fun experience. A few years ago I broke away from traditional iced birthday cakes and tried my hand at creating a fondant masterpiece for my son’s Super Mario Bros. birthday party. And I went from sloppily iced cupcakes to more intricate creations like spring cupcakes with “grass” frosting.
But my cake techniques still have a long way to go, and so I couldn’t resist the chance to check out the book Artisan Cake Company’s Visual Guide to Cake Decorating by Elizabeth Marek. This beautiful book isn’t just packed with decorating ideas. It also features useful recipes, lists of essential tools and step-by-step tutorials!
I’ve learned quite a bit from blogs and online videos when it comes to things like covering a cake with fondant, but this book goes above and beyond to teach different techniques needed for decorating. I learned tricks for icing square cakes, covering cakes in fondant using an upside-down application and balancing cake elements for an appealing design.
One of my favourite tips, and one that I can’t wait to try, was how to make smoother homemade fondant by incorporating a bit of store-bought fondant into the mixture. I use a homemade marshmallow buttercream fondant that’s delicious and easy to work with. But it does get very fragile when it’s rolled too thin and occasionally gets the wrinkled, elephant skin look. Correcting that with commercial fondant is such a simple solution!
I’m also looking forward to trying some of the decorating techniques using buttercream icing. While I’m fairly proud of my progress decorating with fondant so far, my skills working with a regular icing still leave a lot to be desired. The next cake I make will be getting a gorgeous swirled design with help from this book!
If you’d like to create a few edible masterpieces, this giveaway is just for you! One lucky Mommy Kat and Kids reader is going to win their own copy of Artisan Cake Company’s Visual Guide to Cake Decorating by Elizabeth Marek, a $30 value! To enter to win, just leave a blog comment about your favourite flavour of cake.
From simple cake recipes to complex cake designs perfect for a special birthday or wedding, this book is both an instruction manual and a source of inspiration for anyone that wants to learn to create beautiful and delicious cakes for their loved ones. Find it at your local bookstore to take your homemade cakes to a whole new level!
Carolle H says
My favorite is chocolate 🙂
mongupp says
Black forest cake is my fave.
Lynda Cook says
My favourite is carrot cake, but I’m not fussy when it comes to cake and love them all!!!..lol
naiddia p says
My favorite cake is strawberry shortcake.
jan says
Tiramisu Cake!
Athena says
Vanilla
Jeanine says
Hmm, Angel food I guess
Lesley e says
Black Forest cake is my favorite!! Mmmmm!!
Stephanie LaPlante says
My favorite is hazelnut cream
Tanis says
I think vanilla….. pretty plain for me!
darci says
double chocolate!
Jeannie says
I’m a mocha gal.
Amy C says
I like chocolate
nicolthepickle says
I like a nice dark chocolate.
Carol Denny says
I love chocolate cake.
Amber Y says
I absolutely adore vanilla cake. Especially when it’s light and fluffy with vanilla icing.
lori b says
chocolate is mine
Wendi S says
My favorite flavor of cake is red velvet but the rest of my family loves vanilla & yellow.
Maegan Morin says
My favorite flavor of cake is spice cake!
SweetPanda says
My favourite is mousse cake or pound cake
shirley says
I am a Lemon Cake lover.
Elizabeth Matthiesen says
whether it’s the cake or the icing I don’t mind but I love them best when there’s a coffee flavour somewhere 🙂
Karen thaeter says
I love vanilla with buttercream.
Andrea says
My favourite is chocolate!
Nicole Lancaster says
My favorite flavor of cake is Spice.
Leela says
Sour cream chocolate cake (which i’m making again tonight) 🙂
Josie says
Love carrot cake
Gina H. says
Red velvet cake.
Lisa H says
Red velvet is my fave!
kathy downey says
My favourite is carrot cake with pineapple
melissa fowers says
I love classic vanilla
Won Kim says
Strawberry shortcake is my favourite
ChristineB says
Italian rum cake and then classic vanilla with custard filling.
ivy pluchinsky says
chocolate cake of course!
lynn clayton says
I LOVE RED VELVET
Mary Warner says
I love chocolate cake with a bit of coffee added for a bit of mocka.
Anne Derkat says
Black Forest for me.
Lauralee P says
Oh such a hard choice! … Chocolate.
Shannon F says
I love yellow cake with chocolate frosting. lol
aarone mawdsley says
i like vanilla bean!!!! yum!!!!!!!!!!!
Yan D says
love chocolate
holly o'gorman says
Anything with caramel would be my favorite.
charityk says
vanilla cake is my fav
Marilyn Nawara says
My favorite is German Chocolate
Lori JB says
Carrot cake!
Silvia D says
My favourite cake flavour would be a Spice cake.
Donnas says
Red Velvet.
Amanda Whitley says
i like vanilla cake.
Lici Lee says
Hands down…..Red Velvet is my favourite cake flavour.
tanyab79 says
Chocolate if by far my favourite flavour.