SUMMARY: For my book source, I used the book Cake Decorating for Dummies by Joe LoCicero. This book gives a detailed overview of how to decorate a cake, including levels from beginner to advanced and recipes. The first part of the book mainly focuses on how to bake cakes as well as different types of cakes. Then, it talks about making flowers with gum paste and frosting. The end of the book discusses different themed cakes, such as children’s birthday cakes and cakes for different kinds of parties. The book is more of an instructional book, rather than a book that just talks about cake decorating. However, it was helpful to learn different ideas when it comes to the little things you add on to the cake.
RESPONSE: I have never read one of the Dummies books, so I didn’t really know what to expect. When I did read this, I realized that almost everything you need to know is explained in full detail. I thought that it was kind of nice to have a whole book that was full of ideas and techniques explained out for you. The book even gives you recipes for certain cakes that go along with a certain theme you are decorating for. For instance, a Christmas cake would be red velvet that was decorated in white with a giant green tree on it. I thought it was pretty neat how the book really put two and two together when giving you suggestions. The book says, “The easiest and most common decorations are sparkles, nonpareils, and jimmies. They jazz up a cake in a jiffy.” (LoCicero 178). I thought that this was very true, because most people just put some sprinkles on a cake and they are done. But the book gave some interesting suggestions. It said that you can use different candies to go along with your theme; for instance, peppermints can be pinwheels, jelly beans can be jewelry, marshmallows can be pillows, and cotton candy can be clouds. I thought that these suggestions were really neat and creative. Overall, this book was very helpful, and helped me to see a different way into decorating cakes.
LoCicero, Joe. Cake Decorating for Dummies. Indiana: Wiley, 2007.