[.ca] The Wedding Cake Book (ISBN 0028612345)

From Amazon.com:
Although the wedding cake is usually one of the last details engaged couples settle on before the big day, it's just as important for setting the tone and style of the celebration as the flowers or the invitations. An elegant, towering Croquembouche studded with golden almonds and wrapped in clouds of spun sugar sends a different message than a rich-looking Gianduja Truffle Cake decorated with fresh fruit and dusted with gold powder or a White Chocolate Satin Apricot Cake adorned with flowers (click to see photos). Chef Dede Wilson believes that wedding cakes should be aesthetically pleasing, but above all should "reflect the tastes, beliefs, and desires of the bridal couple." With the aim of creating cakes that taste as good as they look, Wilson lends her expertise and creative spirit to the marvelous constructions in The Wedding Cake Book. As much a cookbook as a source of inspiration, The Wedding Cake Book takes bakers--novices and experts alike--step by step through the process of conceptualizing, baking, assembling, and decorating wedding cakes of all levels of difficulty. Each recipe page includes the components needed to make the pictured cake (layers, fillings, decorating accouterments, equipment); the number of servings; the level of difficulty (easier, moderate, or complex); and the recipe and preparation instructions. Other chapters cover finishing touches, cake accompaniments such as sauces and fillings, equipment, and resources for special ingredients or professional equipment. Bakers looking for detailed instructions and delicious recipes and brides seeking ideas for the perfect cake for their postnuptial celebration will find what they're after in The Wedding Cake Book.

a must have:
This book is a must have for anyone interested in baking cakes for weddings or any occasion! I am not a "professional" baker but I am a self-taught baker and many people order cakes, cookies, etc from me for weddings and special occasions. I found this book to be very detailed and easy to understand for anyone at any level of baking knowledge. Dede Wilson's explanations, tips and resource section are exceptional and not to mention the fabulous recipes. I particularly like how she has divided the recipes into cake sizes so that they are easily adaptable especially if you want to use the recipe for a simple party rather than a wedding. She also provides tidbits of knowledge on some flavors or methods that she has tried and have found not to be as successful as others and these insights can be very helpful down the road. I'd suggest this book to anyone and everyone, even if I wasn't already an avid baker this book would make me want to run out to the grocery store and straight back into the kitchen!

Great Great Book!:
I finally had a chance to really read this whole book, and I must say that DeDe Wilson gives very detailed instructions for every recipe and technique that she uses. I also tried out some of the recipes, and they worked perfect. Though I did find that she got some of her recipes from "The Cake Bible", which I also purchased, DeDe Wilson's book is a lot more "attractive" to read. Although the designs are in no way as fancy as those in other wedding cake books, I love the detailed recipes in this one. Most cake book authors just want to show you how skillful and how artistic they are, but DeDe Wilson really wants to teach you how she does it. Great Book!

Good recipes, but not the cake designs.:
Though this book has no creative cake design whatsoever, it has a great deal of non-traditional cake recipes that can come in handy. If you are looking for beautiful cake designs, this book is not recommanded, but having many books in cake decorating already, a recipe book like this does prove to be quite useful.

Good Reference Book For Recipes:
This book is a good reference book for cake recipes. I have not yet attempted to make any cakes as some ingredients are hard to come by or never heard of before eg cake flour, chantilly cream. All the cakes look delicious though but most are royal iced or butter cream iced cakes, not many sugar paste or fondant iced cakes. This book has basic and few instructions on piping and making sugar flowers as most of the cakes in her book are decorated with just cream, berries or fresh flowers. If you are a cake decorator and are tired of making fruit cake, mud cake or madeira and wish to increase your recipe library, this book is perfect for you as long as you know where to get the ingredients.

Excellent How To!:
If you want to make a wedding cake, or just want to know how they are made, this is the book to get! The author generously shares her expertise in planning, making, transporting, and storing wedding cakes in a very friendly and interesting format. After reading this book, I felt like I'm ready to be a pro. :-) Also the book has many, many recipes of creams and fillings. I didn't know a wedding cake could come in so many different flavor! If you're looking for design ideas, however, this book is probably a bit outdated. I think Martha Stewart Weddings and The Perfect Wedding Cake have beautiful and elegant designs.