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(More customer reviews)FAWN ALERT: I loved this book! Apparently tripping over with complete joy of certain cake and baking books has sometimes earned me accusations of working for the authors involved. To the contrary, I am an eager, non-professional cake and baking fool who has no shame in praising well-written books for the likes of people like myself. This one is no different.
Lesley Herbert and Sue Ballard penned this lovely tutorial back in 1999. I just found it thanks to the "recommendations" by our friends here at Amazon. They really came up with a winner! It is a small (7" x 9"), thin, 48-page paperback book that gives the most delicate basics of pressure piping using the royal icing medium in different consistencies.
While I would heartily encourage anyone with a love for royal icing as an exciting medium for creating incredible works of pressure art, you do need to have the basics of cake decorating in that some parts of these projects assume you are in command of the fundamentals.
After the very short "Introduction", there is the "Basic Recipe" for Royal Icing used by Ms. Herbert and Ms. Ballard, along with the "Techniques", which include the consistencies needed for the particular project, as well as the pressures used for piping the basic shapes. There are many clear photos of these techniques as well as step-by-step photography of how you begin the shape from the first piping to the last finishing touch.
Accompanying the photography are drawings to be used as templates, which can be increased in size to fit on your cakes and other projects. The characters and shapes of figures and figurines are just exquisite and all call for a steady and patient hand. A photo of the completed project accompanies each section, giving the reader the visual ways that each shape can be used.
The projects are:
How To Pipe Birds: A hummingbird or hovering bird, a stork with and without a baby bundle, duckling and Mama duck, doves, bluebirds.
A Christening Cake: A lovely bib, baby booties, swans, rattles and ribbons, and a sled.
Welcome Baby Egg: Decorated chocolate eggs with flowers and ribbons and bows, baskets, and bunnies too!
Springtime Motifs: Chicks pulling flower-filled eggshells, birds on a branch, chicks in a nest, bunnies, and lambs.
Pressure Piping Flowers: Piping petals for daisies, narcissus, violets, forget-me-knots, and pansies.
Pressure Piping Roses: Minature, small, and big roses.
Pressure Piping Leaves: How to make a leaf piping bag from parchment paper, small and large leaves, and holly.
Christmas Sleigh Cake: A beautiful Christmas cake with a sleigh, reindeer, Christmas bells, candles, candy canes, Rudolph, Santa, and Christmas trees.
Pressure Piping Figures: This was the one that I was most interested in learning! Though this is very enjoyable, it is the most frustrating when first learning in that you need just the slightest of hand pressure to create these delicate figures of "ladies and gentlemen of the court".
Three-Tiered Wedding Cake: This is an extraordinary chapter that presents a very pristine wedding cake that somewhat contains certain aspects of Australian/Lambeth decorating. Combine that with the artistry that Lesley and Susan show you with the human figures, and you have a show-stopper to be sure!
Cherubs/Ballerina's: 2 more sections of wonderful piping of those angelic bodies and faces as well as the prim and proper ballerina's who look ready to dance for you.
Teddy Bears/ Animals: The last 2 projects to help round off your skill set. The animals include elephants, cow, dogs, pigs, rabbits, pandas and lions.
TEMPLATES: As mentioned before, many of the chapters have templates on their project pages but for the rest, this section has the remaining characters and shapes for which the other chapters did not have room.
Another cake deorating tutorial treasure! Peace!
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