[.ca] The Perfect Wedding Cake (ISBN 1584790849)

Not impressed:
Sadly, I was extremely underwhelmed by this book. It is just a collection of some above-average cake decorating. There are no instructions on how to make the sugar paste flowers or decorations. A better book would be Margaret Braun's Cakewalk. This book, however, is great for beginners or clueless brides. For us pastry folks, I recommend you pass on it.

Wedding Cake Guide for Brides:
This whimsical book features 35 full color and 10 black and white photographs of wedding cakes. The diversity of the cakes is the real strength to this book. Many modern books focus primarily on fondant-covered cakes (the cover of this book is a fondant cake), but this book strikes out into buttercream and even stacked pastry cakes. The variety of cakes in this book is a great value-add for brides. The book is arranged topically. Chapters include an Introduction to Wedding Cake Lore and History, Cake Flavors Fillings and Icings, Choosing a Wedding Cake Baker, and even Recipes for Baking Your Own Cake. While the majority of brides will prefer to purchase a cake, the inclusion of recipes will help brides understand exactly what goes into making a wedding cake, ensuring that the brides who read this book are well-educated consumers. The cake designs feature modern and classic inspirations. On page 18, you will find a fondant cake covered in impeccable gum paste roses and calla lillies. On page 22 you will find a buttercream cake adorned with chocolate seashells and coral, perfect for a summer wedding. On page 28, you will find the modern favorite tilted design, accented with gold and metallic colors. You will even discover a stacked cupcake design as an alternative to a traditional tiered cake. Creatively written for the bride, this is an essential guide to choosing your wedding cake. For friends of the bride, this makes a lovely gift.

Good guide for the bride to be:
This is a book that is more suited as a guide for the bride to be on how to decide on a cake, choose a baker, etc. It has some beautiful and unusual cakes by a variety of cake designers for those looking for ideas. However, there weren't as many cakes as I had hoped.

Don't judge this book by its cover:
The only cake I actually considered from this book was the one on the cover. I was not pleased with many of the other selections on the inside. If you are looking for something traditional, which I am, then this book is probably not for you. Even if you were to find something you liked, I must caution you that this book lacks the instructions needed to be provided to a baker/designer in order to accomplish the re-creation of many of these cakes. There are some impressive masterpieces in this book but none that I haven't already seen displayed in various bridal magazines that I have previously purchased. Also, the cakes in this book carry a heavty price tag so be prepared to go over budget if you decide to set your heart on one of them.

Coffee Table Book:
Nice coffee table book for wedding planners and cake decorators.