Debbie Brown's 50 Easy Party Cakes

I have many of Debbie's books and they are all favorites. The cakes seem intimidating but really aren't as hard as they look. Even if you have never worked with sugarpaste or fondant before if you have experience with polymer clay or even playdough you can do it! These cakes do take time though so make sure and start early. Fondant isn't that popular in the United States but is slowly becoming more so. The brand that you buy does make a world of difference so if all you have ever tried is Wilton's, try another or make your own.

I just received the book this week and made the Noah Ark with the help of my three years old daughter. She did roll balls of marzipan to make the animals' head. I had never worked with rolled fondant before, but found it quite easy... though I must admit I did work a lot with polymer clay in the past.The pictures and instructions are really clear and helpful. I especially like the chart at the beginning with the exact measurements of ingredients needed for each cake, so you don't end up baking too much or too little dough. The designs are adorable and suitable from baby shower to young teenagers' birthday. Very little sculpting skills are needed to model these cute caracthers. I really think a child 8 y.o. and older could create them successfully. If you can play with playdough you can make those cake. Of course, it does take longer than making a cake out of a mix box, but it really worth the effort. If you don't care much for rolled fondant, you can always cover you cake with marzipan... my kids like marzipan a lot more than buttercream icing!This book is a good introduction on sculpted cakes that makes me want to explore this art further. Now I need more books from Debbie Brown!

This is one of my favorite cake decorating books!!The book is very well structured and the cakes are beautifully presented. The book contains 50 amazing ideas, each provided with clear instructions and illustration. It starts with an introduction followed by information about the equipments, basic recipes and techniques used in the book. There is also a chart of cake quantities (the quantities of ingredients for each cake). I appreciate the idea of printing a small picture of the finished cake besides each name in the table of contents. That helped me choose or find a cake without having to go through the whole book searching for it. The cakes might look too hard to achieve, but you will find it quite easy following the clear instructions, the templates and the step-by-step photographs. I made the Mini Monsters' cake when my 7 years old niece had a party for her schoolmates, and they all loved it.

Within seconds after opening this book I realized it was written and published in England. All the cakes in this book are fondant/sugarpaste, which is widely used in England. Knowing this helps understand the book and the way it addresses the ingredients, measurements, and techniques. I am a professional cake decorator with years of experience and can safely say you don't even need months of experience to dive right into one of these projects and produce amazing results!

Debbie Brown gives you all the instructions that you need to decorate lovely and humorous party cakes that are not Wilton type cakes. This book is perfect for people that like to create cakes that look more like a sculpture than a regular cake. Real master pieces! I also recommend her other books: "Favorite Character Cakes", "Lovable Character Cakes" and "Cakes for men". For less humorous cakes but also exceptional cakes I recommend Colette Peters books.