Can You Really Make Cakes that Wow?

I don't do special reviews much any more, but given that this will be looking at a cookbook and that today is National Cake Decorating Day, I thought it would be find to surprise you all with an extra review this week. I was sent a free copy of Christina Wu's Cakes that Wow Cookbook via the Amazon Vine program, but I've also been a reviewer of many of the publisher's works in the past, neither group gives me money for sharing my honest experiences of their books in my reviews; this article is a bonus.  

I really love the layout of this book. Chapter one begins with basic information breaking down what you must have and what would be nice to have to make the cakes you see in this book. Chapter two includes eight cake recipes, including using cake mixes as a basis, gluten-free, and vegan options. Wu includes five frosting recipes, two ganache recipes, and even a fondant recipe (which I really want to try because fondant tastes horrible!). My only complaint about this cookbook is that I'm not really sure why these recipes are here in the second chapter when most of the cake have other recipes and rarely refer back to this chapter; honestly just repeat the recipes when you need it for bakers, please. Chapter three has some basic decorating advice and this is where my favorite thing about the cookbook first shows up in a useful fashion: so many helpful photos. Don't just give me words on how to do something, but images or drawings at least to show me how to do it. Doing this will make a cookbook more expensive, but it will also greatly increase the usefulness to more people.

There are then four chapters each showing how to decorate different types of "cakes" beginning with sheet cakes. My mother used to make those for church and family events, and while they have a reputation for being quick and serving a lot of people, Wu demonstrates how you can make them pretty, too. Here's a photo of just one of the photo directions found in the sheet cake chapter, but every recipe has this. Layer cakes and then 2D or sculptural and tiered cakes are chapters five and six, building in difficulty. I recommend trying out the recipes in order of chapter, but you don't need to try each one in a chapter. Doing it this way will give you more practice for the more difficult decorating themes. I'm unsure why cupcakes and cake pops are chapter seven when those smaller decorating surfaces seem like ideal starter grounds for many newbie bakers.

I loved the layout and photos of this book. I loved Wu's clear directions and thoughtfulness for each theme she's sharing with us. I highly recommend this book.