The Art of the Cake: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide to Baking and Decorating Perfection

This wonderfully presented class to making and decorating cakes, cupcakes, and other visually stunning baked delicacies from the renowned cake designer is perfect for bakers of all levels, from event planners and caterers to home cooks. Whether planning a grand fête or an intimate dinner, Mich Turner’s cake designs are the perfect dessert for a celebration. The book begins with a thorough overview of basic equipment and ingredients, along with step-by-step demonstrations and recipes for Turner’s signature cakes, including the famed truffle torte. The heart of the book explores decorative effects with fillings and icings that are delicious as well as lovely, such as chocolate ganache and royal buttercream, along with special techniques, like covering a cake with marzipan and sugar paste or coating cakes with chocolate. An entire chapter is devoted to Turner’s signature piping designs, from the simple to more elaborate curlicues, pearls, and weaves. The book concludes with sections on advanced techniques, like making petal-paste roses or elaborate ribbon loops, and a portfolio of her most renowned designs, ranging from opulent chocolate sculptures to charming cakes adorned with confectionary frills and flowers, along with detailed instructions for re-creating them. Anyone who has wanted to take a professional baking course will relish this lavishly illustrated "master class" from London’s renowned master baker and cake designer.

Mich Turner founded the Little Venice Cake Company in 1999. She has designed cakes for celebrity, society, and corporate clientele; she was commissioned to make birthday cakes for David Beckham and Gordon Ramsay and her impressive client list includes Madonna, Paul McCartney, Pierce Brosnan and the Osbournes. Turner is the author of Spectacular Cakes (which won the Best Dessert Book in the World Cookbook Awards of 2005), Party Cakes, and, most recently, Wedding Cakes.