Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #997323 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 112 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Wedding cakes have come a long way from the stacked and columned white cakes that were de rigueur just a few generations ago. Now square cakes, cupcakes and brightly-colored confections are all possible and perfectly acceptable. Lavishly illustrated in the manner of Victoria magazine (which is published by the same company), this volume provides an abundance of ideas for choosing or designing "the most memorable dessert you will ever serve." Pink and yellow petit fours, a multi-tiered "cake" made of cupcakes decorated with buttercream sunflowers, a smooth white fondant cake graced with sugared plums-these are just some of the impressive desserts showcased in these pages. And though the text can be cloying, it does contain lots of worthwhile advice, such as tips for negotiating a contract with a baker and for what to do if a cake gets squashed on the way to the reception. Some of Hackett's suggestions are unlikely to be taken up by most readers-including the idea of having a dry run of the reception before the big day-and others may be put off by her discouraging attitude toward home baking. Many brides-to-be might disagree with the author's contention that the wedding cake is "as important as the wedding dress," but those who concur will find ample inspiration in this beautiful work. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Just look at the pictures...
I make wedding cakes, so I buy every book and magazine on the subject. If you're a bride, just buy this book to look at the photos of the cakes, but take the advice with a grain of salt. There are so many inconsistencies and just blatantly incorrect information about cakes in it that I was actually getting mad while reading the text. Some of the descriptions of the photos are obviously wrong, the descriptions of the various icings aren't right in a few cases, and that's just a couple of examples. In one case there are three conflicting statements about how to cut the cake...on one page it gives one size per slice, on another it gives a different size, and on a third there's a picture of a wedge of cake and it says that's how it's done. In another case they talk about toxic flowers, and specifically say that if you're going to use sweet peas you should make them out of sugar. On a page fairly close to that, there's a photo of a cake covered in real sweet peas...huh??? It might seem like no big deal, but if you're trying to become educated about wedding cakes before buying one, this isn't the book to buy. The photos of cakes are okay, but I was disappointed by the fact that none of the photo descriptions gave credit to the cake decorators, or listed any contact information for the bakers. The photo credits at the back only list the photographers, so if you want more information about a certain cake you're out of luck.

A Big Fat Flop
This book was a huge disappointment. I love Victoria Magazine, and the reason I bought this book was that I was told that one of my cakes was featured in the book (without my permission, I might add). Well, not only did they use the photo of my cake, but they didn't even give me credit. The only people in the book who received credit were the photographers. And 75% of the photos that they did use were either out of focus or of cakes that were sadly so amateurish, I'm embarassed to be in the same book. The cover of the book isn't even the same as the cover shown above.
Many of the facts they have in the book are wrong, also, like who was doing cakes in the early 80s. They could have used a fact checker for that .
Wedding cakes have come a long way since the 80s, and if this is the best they could come up with, then someone is truly misguided.

THIS??? Is the book I ordered???
I have been buying from Amazon for years, and this is the first review I have written... and NOT to rave about this purchase, but to convey my disappointment. I was expecting a more professional book... this is certainly not it... I also decorate cakes, and was confused as to how this one got the description it did.... and yes... WHY IS THE COVER OF THE BOOK NOT PROVIDED??? The picture here is located way in the back of the book, and is much smaller... I also thought I received the wrong book... I have to say, that the picture they did choose to advertise the book was the best of the bunch.... so just look at this picture and forget the book.