Wedding Cake Art and Design: A Professional Approach [Hardcover]

Once again, we have been given a gem in the form of a cake decorating "bible" of sorts except this time, the essence of this book brings you beyond the fondant and royal icing and other assorted expectations with wedding cakes. This time, Ms. Garrett gives you her professional insight into how, when, why, and how much to consider in approaching the subject of the wedding cake business.

For those professionals who are well-associated with the legistics end of cakes, you already know the information within the covers of this book. But for those cake/wedding cake bakers just starting out, or those not quite sure what demands are non-negotiable when choosing to work in this field, here it is just waiting for you.

Toba Garrett is a solid and established player in the field of cake decorating as she teaches at the Institute of Culinary Cake and Design in New York as head of the Cake Decorating and Design Department. And for those who know what ICES is (The International Cake Exploration Society), she is counted among its esteemed members. Add to that her three other books (Professional Cake Decorating, Creative Cookies, and The Well-Decorated Cookie) and you are looking at The Cake Professor.

Where to begin? "Wedding Cake Art & Design: A Professional Approach" is a heavy, luxurious book of top-notch photography and print that draws you into each cake project with zeal. Aspects of planning, creating, and executing that most important cake are all given the respected attention they require and that the wedding couple deserve. But it is also necessary to advise those considering this book, that they have a very solid foundation of cake preparation, decorating, and assembly skills already under their belt. As Julia Child once said, "This isn't for fluffies!".

280 pages await you in instruction, construction, and advice to help perfect your knowledge and skills. The photography is pristine and clear, the teaching precise, and the anticipation heightened as you truly want to achieve the end result. The contents of the book are as follows:

Chapter One: Designing the Cake
Chapter Two: Creative Designs
Chapter Three: Romantic Designs
Chapter Four: Textured Designs
Chapter Five: Modern Designs
Chapter Six: Wedgewood-Inspired Designs
Chapter Seven: Chocolate Designs
Chapter Eight: Seasonal Designs
Chapter Nine: Fashion-Inspired Desgns
Chapter Ten: Floral Designs
Chapter Eleven: Textile-Inspired Designs
Chapter Twelve: Setting Up A Cake Decorating Business
Chapter Thirteen: Recipes and Flavor Combinations
Appendix (with templates and cake-cuttting guides)

Chapter One: Designing the Cake
We have come a long way from the cookie cutter wedding cake of years past. Today's brides (and grooms) know what they want even if they can't conceptualize their thoughts, therefore they will look to you for direction. This is an enjoyable aspect of the pre-cake decorating phase because imagination has no limits. Many aspects of the wedding will most definitely bring you to the style and texture they'll want for the cake, and starting with the color theme, will bring you closer to making the final decisions. How to prepare a bridal couple for their first meeting with you, getting those all-important samplings presented in order to choose a flavor and batter, cake size, cake sketch, cake cost per servings, etc all play together in the cake choice. Also covered is estimating the time and labor that will go into the cake as well as transporting it. The transportion costs themselves, and other legistics, round out this chapter.

Chapters Two through Chapter Eleven involved the specific styles and designs as mentioned in the above "contents" section. This is where Ms. Garrett shines in her skills and imagination. Flowers, textures of the fondant or gumpaste, cameo disks, use of stitched monogramms, fondant pleating, color-washed fondant, marzipan fruit, netting, stenciled designs, petal crowns on the tiers, pastillage disks, chocolates, fondant bows, run-outs, appliques, and most exquisite (and my favorite!) Australian stringwork are just some of the techniques and amazing skills she possesses and patiently passes along to you. While all the cakes are beautiful, some are just masterpieces of art with the most simple being the most exquisite!

Chapter Twelve: Setting Up A Cake Design Business
This is what made the book for me because most cake decorating books are about the baking and the cakes. Period. But what about those of us who are seriously comtemplating a shoppe? What is neccessary to run your business from your home as opposed to a store front? What are the legalities of such a venture? What about the health codes? Once you do decide to open your business, how do you get started and get your name out there? What equipment will you need? While this chapter just scratches the surface of these very important questions, they are a good start from which to find those people and places that can safely guide you through the process. I thought the most important question in this whole chapter was "do you want to be married to your business 24/7?". That will give you a good "think" to be sure!

Chapter Thirteen: Recipes and Flavor Combination
Batters and flavors have gotten way past yellow batter and vanilla buttercream, haven't they? A guide for flavor combinations awaits you at the end of this chapter. So here are some great recipes for:

Chocolate Pound Cake
Lemon Pound Cake
Red Velvet Cake
German Chocolate Cake
Almond paste Cake
Dominican Cake (pineapple juice and rum.....yum-yum!)
Peanut Butter Cake
High-Yield Yellow Cake
Chocolate Fudge Cake
Carrot Cake
Almond-Walnut Pound Cake
Lemon Coconut Cake

Decorator's Buttercream Icing
French Vanilla Buttercream
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Amaretto Mocha Buttercream
White Chocolate Buttercream
Ganache
Dark Chocolate Buttercream Icing
Italian Meringue Buttercream
Meringue Icing
Cream Cheese Buttercream

Confectioners Glaze (aka "glue" for holding things together like flowers or textures to the cake)
Quick Glaze

Marzipan
Marzipan Fondant Paste
Rolled Fondant
Pastillage
Rolled Fondant Modeling Paste

Marzipan Chocolate Fondant Paste
Chocolate Rolled Fondant
Modeling Chocolate (aka "chocolate plastic")
White Modeling Chocolate Paste

Egg White Royal Icing (note: I only use pasteurized egg whites to always be on the safe side)
Meringue Powder Royal Icing
Quick Gumpaste (my ace-in-the-hole many a time)
Flood Icing

Lemon, Lime, or Orange Curd
Pineapple Curd
Passion Fruit Curd
Sieved Apricot Jam
Pastry Cream

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and know that it will be a very welcomed book on your cake book shelves. As I said earlier, Ms. Garrett is one of the best, and while she doesn't get into the exploding field of shaped cakes and forms (animals, "people", themes and such that you see on shows like Food Network, Amazing Cakes, etc), her genteel and pristine works of art are more ethereal in nature.

And if you should have the chance to look at her cookie decorating books, by all means, do so! What a lovely presentation to have not just her cakes, but some of her fabulous cookie art to accompany the wedding dessert table!

Peace!

I have all the books by Toba Garrett. She is one of the best cake decorators ever and what I like the most is that she is WILLING to share with others her wealth of knowledge unlike other cake decorators who just show their work and "pretend" to show in their book how to do it.
With all of Garrett's books you will find step by step information on how to do the techniques. Of course, you must have a certain knowledge and go from there. The recipes are excellent and tasty. None of them have failed for me and I have tried almost of all them.
If you are looking for a book to learn and expand your knowledge in cake decorating ALL of Toba's books are for you. They are like textbooks in this area.
Love them all!!!

I have both Toba Garrett's books, "The Well Decorated Cake" and now "Wedding Cake Art and Design." I feel both books have similar traits. Although there is good, detailed instruction in each book on how to accomplish a given design and elements, I feel the cakes themselves are a bit dated and represent more of a European style. Toba's recipes are amazing but most of the recipes are repeated in both books. There are definitely elements that can be taken from this book but as opposed to "The Well Decorated Cake" Toba does not go into detail about simple aspects like crumb coating and piping borders. Basic cake decorating knowledge is a must - but quite elementary for the professional. If you are looking for a starter book on cake decorating, "The Well Decorated Cake" is a more suitable choice. Elements that are covered in this book include items such as fondant/gumpaste flowers (including roses, carnations, tiger lilies, daisies, hibiscus, and accompanying greenery), royal icing details, flooded shapes, marzipan fruits, and other basic fondant work. I did appreciate the tips and side notes throughout the book as well as the "setting up a cake design business" section. Not a bad book to add to the collection, great book for the amateur just starting to compile books and thinking of starting a cake decorating business, but not my personal favorite as far as the actual cake designs. Nonetheless, Toba is an excellent instructor with great tips.

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