SprinkleBakes: Dessert Recipes to Inspire Your Inner Artist

by Heather Baird

How can you make cakes, cookies, and candy even MORE fun? Award-winning blogger Heather Baird, a vibrant new voice in the culinary world, has the Cook like an artist! Combining her awesome skills as a baker, confectioner, and painter, she has created a gorgeous, innovative cookbook, designed to unleash the creative side of every baker. Heather sees dessert making as one of the few truly creative outlets for the home cook. So, instead of arranging recipes by dessert type (cookies, tarts, cakes, etc.), she has organized them by line, color, and sculpture. As a result, SprinkleBakes is at once a breathtakingly comprehensive dessert cookbook and an artist's instructional that explains brush strokes, sculpture molds, color theory, and much more. With easy-to-follow instructions and beautiful step-by-step photographs, Heather shows how anyone can make her jaw-dropping creations, from Mehndi Hand Ginger Cookies to Snow Glass Apples to her seasonal masterpiece, a Duraflame®-inspired Yule Log.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Heather Baird is an accomplished painter and photographer whose works are in public and private collections across the United States, but her passion is creating eye-popping, mouthwatering desserts. She is a devoted practitioner of international confectionery technique who explores the outer limits of patisserie. She writes about her adventures in the world of creative dessert-making in her award-winning blog at sprinklebakes.com. Heather lives in Knoxville, TN, with her husband Mark and two mischievous pugs named Biscuit and Churro.

Reviews

[Debby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first discovered Heather Baird's blog a couple of years ago, and have been a loyal fan of her work. Her photography is testament that she is, in fact, an artist. Each recipe is a work of art. The color, the perfection, the food styling, the lighting-- I admire each recipe. Most times, I savor looking at the pictures, but know that I most likely won't be making it. I say this, because she is such a Diva, in my eyes-- in a very good way. I bought Heather's book, because I wanted to take my time looking at each recipe. Yes, most of these can be found on her blog. However, there are bonuses in here. I enjoyed reading her baking commandments. As I savored each recipe and photograph, I began to feel a sense of confidence. Yes, I think I really can make some of these recipes! I have made her Cherry Vanilla Cake (that is not in this cookbook) and when I posted a question about it, she answered me back in quick fashion. So, maybe I should retract the "diva" description, because she is very down-to-earth and approachable...albeit via the internet. I digress. I have been procrastinating gathering the courage to make macarons. After reading Heather's recipe, and detailed photos and tips, I am going to take a deep breath and just do it. I would say that her recipes aren't for a baking "beginner". But, if you love to bake, and want to step it up a bit, this is the book to give you the confidence to try. For under $15.00, I'm going to gift a few of my fellow baking bloggers with this book. I think they'll enjoy it as much as I did.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an all-around excellent dessert cookbook. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys baking. Baird combines her artistic abilities with creativity and her love of baking. She offers clear instructions and beautiful pictures to accompany the recipes, and her step-by-step instructions make me feel like even I could create something beautiful and delicious. The book offers a variety of desserts. Some are quick fixes, while others will take more time and preparation. However, all of the recipes seem worth the time and effort involved.

I've always enjoyed reading her blog (SprinkleBakes), and this is definitely a wonderful addition to my cookbook section.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't tried anything out yet, but everything looks pretty and delicious! I've done a few recipes from her blog, and it's by far my favourite for desserts. I kept meaning to buy this online, and then I saw it in the grocery store. Hooray!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henna cookies!

[Pattie Tierney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A one-of-a-kind baking book combining flavorful recipes with artistic designs to create both delicious and unique desserts.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Art and food!

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoroughly lovely book. The basic recipes seem solid, and there are lots of beautiful, artistic ideas to get you started.

[Baddelim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Range of recipes. Great, helpful and inspiring pics.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today’s book is SprinkleBakes , the companion book of the popular SprinkleBakes dessert blog. The author, Heather Baird, writes about confections and her recipes include such things as macarons (that’s the fancy sandwich cookie, not the coconut drop cookie), hard candies, cream puffs, and homemade fondant.

To say that this book explores the other end of the scale set last week is unfair as that title would either go to The Silver Spoon or The Joy of Cooking , or one of those Grandma’s Kitchen-style cookbooks where the recipes seem hard to make but are actually only physically impossible. The recipes in this book aren’t difficult, only daunting. I’m not saying that you should run out and bake macarons now that you’ve mastered the art of frying eggs, there is a good deal of skill involved, but it’s skill that’s easy to pick up with a bit of practice. And as I realized way back when I first decided to go to school for pastry arts: You’re going to be making mistakes, so why not make delicious ones?

The author takes us through Candy Land by teaching some basic recipes first, sugar cookies and gingerbread, so we’ve got a canvas. Then she takes us through the ‘paints’, the icings, and the other little touches. We get a quick courtesy look at how to make some candies and chocolates but then we get down to business and start putting paint to canvas and combining the techniques we’ve learned. I glossed through this last part as the examples aren’t ones most of us would have any reason to make (i.e. whether you draw a face or a mandala, it’s still going to be an iced sugar cookie. And why would anyone want to know how to make an anatomically correct heart cake with realistic blood?)

There’re plenty of pictures and the measurements are all in cups and teaspoons, leaps and bounds less of a hassle than my kilo and litre school books. Plus the recipes are all decent sizes, which is nice for you, but fantastic for those of us who’s only other resource for these recipes are designed to fill buffet tables, not tea trays.


The verdict? I’ll be ordering a copy of this book for myself. It’s a great collection and a good pastry and confection 101.

[Helana Brigman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sprinkle Bakes Cookbook–Sprinkle Bakes: Dessert Recipes to Inspire Your Inner Artist–marks one of the most important dessert-based cookbooks for any chef’s culinary repertoire that will come out this year. Written by Heather Baird of the Sprinkle Bakes blog, this dessert-specific cookbook offers an unique way to perceive baking: baking as art. Not just the fact that different kinds of frostings can be pretty, cookies can be cut into fun shapes, and Jello can be molded, but the idea that baking invokes some of the ways in which artists perform their craft–blank canvases, sculpture, color, mixed media, and so much more.

In fact, I’ve been posting about Heather’s confections as inspirations and bases for many of my own recipes for about two years. I love the way she treats baked goods as canvases and brings her own flare that’s simultaneously feminine and inspiring. Plus, you can’t beat the adorable pictures of her pugs (dogs) throughout the blog. The blog has a fun feel and shows just how important online writing is to those of us who participate in the digital sharing of recipes and how it can one day work in print.
- See more at: http://www.clearlydeliciousfoodblog.c...

[Lisa Phillips]

Awesome came out great and even if you do not make the entire cake make the icing. It is soooooooooooo GOOD! I have never had molasses icing before it is one of those OMG moments. I have not cut the cake yet, it's for a baby shower so I decorated with baby feet on top, not covering the entire top so the cookie dough can show through and used the leftover cake (made crumbs) from evening it out to coat the bottom half. It looks great can't wait for the applause! LOL

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heather is obviously an artist. As soon as you flip open her cookbook, you can tell that.

Her recipes are beautiful. Visually pleasing while also being delicious.

While her treats may look extremely hard, they are not. Heather gives you a simple step by step to achieve her product.

Her recipes are unique and impressive. And yes, again, delicious.

[Veronica Cadlum-mesia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The instructions are all so easy to follow plus the photos are quite enticing :)
I've tried the Matcha Cheesecake for my birthday and it was as wonderfully tasting as I've imagined.
Looking forward to trying out the rest of the recipes.
Thank yoou for sharing your recipes with us.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't have the talent or the time to tackle any of the recipes but I enjoyed looking at the pictures. I did pick up a few useful baking tips.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh- I'm a home baker, not an artist. I really want my baked goods to taste good, not so worried about them being beautiful. Fun to look through, though!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great cookbook. I love the diversity of recipes, and how there is one great recipe per item. A must have for any baker, and can fit needs for a newer baker or experienced hand.

[NancyS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photos of luscious looking desserts. Book also has clear, basic instructions as well as directions for beyond the norm concoctions. Can't wait to try some.

[Carina Rodrigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love your recipe Lemony Rainbow Checkerboard Cake. You are a wonderful pastry

[Liz De Coster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely photographs but most of the actual recipes didn't jump out at me.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want to try some of these, good ideas too.

[Aliya Tudor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because I am a huge fan of the blog. The recipes are ok.

[Sandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great photos. good ideas, but the recipes are nothing new

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Made 3 recipes from it and had to start jogging again.