Professional Cake Decorating

Despite the title, this rather amazing educational tool is just as useful for pastry chefs in a bakery, and the home baker producing wonderful baked goods for that party or special occasion or just for fun. This manual has many strengths. The ingredients are always in weight; cups are not even listed (hallelujah!). The main lessons and sub-sections listed ALL the mise-en-place, including those little, trivial, yet essential items usually not listed by other books. The quality of the instructions are every bit as good as the lessons I got in cooking school. The attitude of the author is similar to those friendly, patient explanations I received while struggling (with much frustration) with a particular decorating skill. The appendix has many patterns that are ready to use for your practice; just photocopy and start practicing. The recipe section has many important recipes: chocolate plastique, pastillage, practice buttercream, rolled fondant, gumpaste. Some interesting notes. You will need to purchase, if you do not already have, a rather extensive inventory of tools and ingredients you probably do not have, even in a professional kitchen. So, resign yourself to a first step where you gather the needed stuff. The author seems to have extensive experience outside of the US. This is good, inasmuch as he presents much more material on rolled fondant and stringwork than you will get in a standard textbook or professional caliber class. Using the lessons (of which there are 19) needs a little explanation, which is not forthcoming from the author. They are not 1-hour chunks of education. Some will require many repeats before you become proficient. Some lessons must be spread amongst several sessions, even if you are efficient and get it quickly. So, take each lesson with patience, and expect to repeat many times before becoming proficient. Also, it is not necessary to plow through all the lessons numerically. You can easily just skip to whichever chapter/skill you are interested in. It has these chapters: basic piping, floral piping, intermediate piping, advanced borders, writing, royal icing flowers, royal icing skills, cake icing, modeling skills, marzipan, advance royal piping, rolled icing, pastillage, gumpaste flowers, petit fours, misc, cake gallery, recipes.

After reading this book ...I had all my questions answered that I needed to do some techniques....I do have her other books and enjoy those as well..Anyone whose wants a book that has techniques and recipes that are dependable and taste as good as they look this is the book for you....

Some books may have prettier photographs, but nowhere else will you get as thorough an education on technique. Don't get me wrong, the look and feel of the book is still quite nice - just packed with information rather than just glossy pictures. Directions are precise and based on years of experience and training internationally. I love this book because it can take any beginner at cake decorating to a level more advanced than most high-end New York cake decorators - just this one book. Toba Garrett makes other artists' work look like childsplay. I've browsed through tons of other books on cake decorating, bought a few including Colette Peters' Cakes to Dream On, but none of them get you through as many techniques, nor present techniques nearly as complex and professional, as Toba Garrett's Professional Cake Decorating. To be honest, most Americans probably have never even seen most of this stuff in their lives. The savvy might know fondant, but how many people have seen brush embroidery or English and Australian string work (using royal icing to create lacelike effects suspended off the side of a cake)? In a nutshell, if you're content smothering a yellow cake you made from a box with crisco and sprinkles, don't buy this book. But if you want to learn how to use some of the world's most amazing cake decorating techniques to create one-of-a-kind masterpieces that are too beautiful to eat (and taste good too thanks to delicious recipes for both cakes, fillings, and other items) buy this book and get on the waiting list for one of Toba Garrett's classes in New York at ICE.

Stop the presses!!! Look no further all ye students of culinary arts!! You have reached the highest plateau of education!! Ms. Garrett has compiled and indexed and joyfully created the encyclopedia of baking skills for anyone to study, and learn, and she has done so by teaching as straight forward and honestly as possible. While some high-priced bakers write books in the guise of having you think they will share their guarded secrets, Ms. Garrett actually delivers on her promise. You will feel that you have wisely chosen a great teaching tool as you realize the knowledge you hold in your hands, courtesy of Toba. This labor of love, which was borne out of the need and requests of family, friends, and students, will take you from the initial step to the final step of cake baking, assembly, and decorating. I cannot think of anything that she has forgotten in bringing this craft to you in a book form. I have many cake decorating books, and I truly feel that this effort far surpassed any of the volumes that are sitting on my shelves. It is comprehensive and thorough, and if at some point, you wish to get more detailed, all you would need is your imagination to guide you. My grandest wish was to undertake the knowledge necessary for the skill of piping and design; it is an old world art from England and Australia and mastery of this will put you in league with those who catered to aristocracy of centuries gone by. This skill involves creating all those thread-thin lines of icing that are shaped into delicate lace-like pieces that you gently place upon a cake; the crisss-cross patterns or bridge-like paper thin lines that connect to one another to form trellis' and such; fleurs-de-lis with drop strings; brush embroidery and...........oh the inpsiration is endless! Therefore in lesson 11 of this tome, she divulges and devotes her knowledge to impart to you this fabulous skill. For me, this chapter alone was worth the price!! Lace designs, trellis works, ring designs. And of course she teaches the basic skills of flower making or animal shaped ideas; marzipan shaped into fruit; how to decorate cookies that go way beyond frosting and more. Her chapters are: Basic piping skills FLoral piping skills Intermiediate piping skilss Advanced border skills The art of writing Royal icing piped flowers Royal icing design skills The art of icing a cake Hand modeling skills Marzipan and chocolate modeling Advanced royal icing piping and design skills Rolled icing design skills Pastillage construction Gumpaste flowers; basic floral skills Advanced gumpaste flowers Miniature cakes and decorated cookies Cake borders, color charts, painting, and more techniques Cake and confectionary gallery Recipes Patterns Measurement Bibiliography Index She has covered every aspect of making a cake from the recipes to the actually physical construction of the cake to the decorations you place on it. She provides plenty of detailed instruction along with excellent photograph

This really is a comprehensive, excellent instruction book and it is appropriate for people at all levels of cake decorating experience. Toba Garrett covers everything from start to finish and at the end of each lesson she provides a self-quiz that will help you see how much you have learned, practice each technique and make sure you understand the terminology that goes with this exciting career/hobby. I teach cake decorating at a local craft store and I own my own cake decorating business and Toba is an inspiration and my absolute favorite cake decorator. If you want to learn anything about the art of cake decorating, this book is worth the price! It could replace all the other cake books in my library all at once. Oh - and the recipes are fabulous too! Try the chocolate fudge cake recipe if you like chocolate cake, it's OUT OF THIS WORLD. I want to mention that the recipes have the ingredient measurements for both a 5-6 quart mixer and a 20 quart mixer for those who are starting a kitchen with bigger equipment.