The Artful Cupcake: The Fine Art of Containment & Concealment

For anyone who loves to decorate, this book is for you. The different frostings, especially the chocolate clay are dynamite! The finished look of your baked goods will markedly improve--making you the bakeshop diva of your office!

Oh, I do so love this book. As I have stated in another review of cupcake books: I own six (to date...) and I love this one for its easy accessibility and beautiful photos. There is nothing about the book description to add after B. Marold's review, but I will reinforce the "crafting" aspects of the cupcakes. One can find good, basic cupcake recipes almost anywhere, right? But why bake cupcakes if you are not going to have fun with the decorations, unless of course, you are baking for the school bakesale and they have requested 416 dozen... The cupcakes in this book are exactly as the title describes: "Delicious Indulgences" and that includes time and effort, but you also don't require a certification from the Wilton School of cake decorating: Fourteen pastry bags and 23 tips are not a requirement to produce elegant to clever little cakes; maybe just one or two..... For a chance to "play" and hone some decorating skills, as well as sit back to the oooohs and aaaaahs of your adoring, drooling public, this book is loads of fun. Enjoy!

I love cupcakes! They are easy to make, easy to dress up and lovely to eat!I didn't know what to expect from this book, since I saw contrasting opinions, but now that I have tried some recipes I can say I'm glad I bought it. Well, some of the recipes take several hours, maybe days, to complete (for example: butterfly cupcakes and cupcake flower vase), but there are also others that are easy and yet stunning, like the Cabernet Chocolate Cupcakes and the Winter Spice Cupcakes.I like the fact that recipes for chocolate modelling clay, fondant and royal icing are included and I also like the "cake to cupcake" conversion chart.If you are looking for easy, uncomplicated recipes, I suggest you try "Cupcakes" by Ceri Hadda: I found a load of interesting and yummy recipes and none is too complicated. Of course, this Artful Cupcake is "another planet", but, like any work of art, many of these project require a lot of time.

I was delighted to find this book since, a few weeks ago, I looked through all my many books on baking for a simple cupcake recipe and I could find but one true cupcake recipe. And this was with a cake recipe on which I was not keen. I was doubly surprised to find not a single decent cupcake recipe at the Food Network web side at the time.Upon reading this book, the first thing which struck me was that it was as much or more a craft book than it was a book on baking. The first clue is that the publisher specializes in craft books. It is not one of those major cookbook houses like Knopf, Clarkson Potter, Wiley, or even Ten Speed Press. The next clue is that the author's previous books are all on craft topics such as decorating with lights, gel candles, silk flowers, and scarecrows. The story becomes clearer when it is evident that the name on the front cover, Ms. Marcianne Miller, is probably much more a collector and editor of ideas than an author, let alone a baker. Among the fourteen (14) `Contributing Designers' names at the end of the book, her name appears last. A minority of the thirteen other individuals named and profiled here are professional bakers. Most are amateurs whose main vocation is in the arts, crafts, or non-baking part of the food service industry.All this is to make the impression on you, dear reader, that this book is less about baking cupcakes than it is about baking AND DECORATING cupcakes. This is not to say this is a poor book. Just the opposite is true. This is a very good little book on baking AND DECORATING cupcakes.The book begins, as expected, with basic baking. On this matter, the book is brief, but flawless in giving you the essentials of cupcake baking. As part of this introduction, it describes silicone muffin pans and mini-bundt pans, neither of which have I taken much notice until I saw them here. The section on basics includes an extremely useful instruction on how to convert all but sponge cake recipes into a cupcake recipe, based on the size of cake pan for which the recipe is scaled. The introduction continues with basic instructions on frosting and icing and how to use piping bags and other decorating equipment. The most important information in the intro is the three basic cupcake recipes for Classic White, Easy Yellow, and Chocolate Buttermilk cupcakes. This is followed by three basic recipes for classic buttercream, ivory buttercream, and cream cheese frostings.Each of the remaining thirty-six main sections are a pairing of a cake recipe with a topping or decorating technique. Most of the cake recipes are familiar, but some such as the key lime tarts and the chocolate truffle cupcakes are quite a pleasant surprise. Not every section introduces a new cake, but every section does introduce a new decorating style, technique, or topping. Some of the toppings are borrowed from well-known standards such as a Maple Walnut Streusel and white chocolate roses. Many other toppings are elaborate. Some are elaborat

This book has lots of ideas: Flowering Vase created with a Lemon-Poppy seed pound cake and cupcakes covered with beautiful fondant flowers (all recipes included for fondant, etc.), cupcakes with chocolate roses (uses chocolate modeling clay...again, recipe included), butterflies with sugar wings (these are absolutely beautiful!) and so much more. I have tried the chocolate cupcakes, yellow cupcakes, chocolate roses and they are just fine. I look forward to trying the lime curd cupcakes (shown on the front) and maple cupcakes with crumble topping. Lots of GREAT ideas and even if you dislike all the recipes, I feel the ideas alone are worth the $$! For a book only about cupcakes, this defnitely gets five stars:)NOTE: The other reviewer is correct in saying the ideas are 'basic', but this book is not meant for the professional baker!