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Saturday, December 13, 2014

CAKE DECORATING WITH GRACE STEVENS



An ideal Christmas present for bakers of all skill levels. (Review by Beverley Millar)

This is the perfect book for anyone who watches TV reality programmes such as Cake Boss, or the South African equivalent, and wishes they could create similar masterpieces. The problem with all these shows is that you see the beautiful end product but are left in the dark as to how to achieve this magic.

Grace Stevens has solved this problem with her informative and beautifully illustrated book Cake Decorating.

The book offers instruction on how to decorate 14 different cake styles. Included are designs for celebration cakes, a Christmas cake, an Easter egg hunt cake, a traditional wedding cake and an Indian-inspired one, welcome home to a new baby cake and several styles of birthday cakes, such as aeroplane, train, fairy or sports cake and many more.

The book includes a list of the equipment required for cake icing and a countrywide list of suppliers. So there should be no problem in obtaining the right requirements for your icing task. There are also templates for cakes that need cutting.

Also included is the book are five cake recipes as well as recipes for vanilla and mascarpone buttercream fillings, white chocolate and dark chocolate ganache, basic recipes for modelling paste, edible glue, royal icing and the various different pastes that are needed to complete the task.

There is a well-illustrated section showing how to sculpt a cake. There is also instruction on how to create things such as faces, arms, legs and other body parts, hair styles such as buns and pigtails, various plants, leaves and flowers from modelling paste.

Each cake is given a difficulty level rating, a timeline showing when the various elements of the cake should be prepared, which recipe you will need from the five provided and a list of the equipment and materials required complete the cake.

The step by step instructions and excellent photographs that accompany every recipe make this a very easy book to follow and understand.

Author Grace Stevens is a highly experienced cake decorator who teachers this art in Cape Town and travels locally and internationally to share her expertise. She is a member of the South African Cake Decorators Guild. Cake Decorating with Grace Stevens is her second book on the subject and it will inspire beginners. Even experienced cake decorators should find new and useful information between its covers.

It would be an ideal Christmas present for bakers of all skill levels.

Cake Decorating with Grace Stevens is published by Struik Lifestyle. ISBN 9781432303396 Recommended retail price R220. - Beverley Millar