Lovable Character Cakes

by Debbie Brown

Provides a full colour photograph of each finished cake, step-by-step colour photographs and clear instructions to guarantee that each cake is a complete success. There are amazing designs for all age ranges, including Bananas in pyjamas, Sesame Street, Fireman Sam, Wallace & Gromit, Rugrats, Dennis & Gnasher, and many more.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

Debbie Brown is a world-renowned cake decorator and the best-selling author of over 20 cake decorating books. Known for her imaginative novelty cakes and sugarcraft models, she has inspired countless decorators, including Paul Bradford. Debbie continues to lead the industry with her creativity, expertise, and influential contributions to cake design.

Reviews

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

There cannot be a parent out there who has, at least once, wished they could make their own character cake for a child’s birthday or other special occasion. Not everybody is so gifted as to have the “magic fingers” to do this at a blink of an eye. Maybe this book goes towards changing that?
Here, in a relatively slim volume, author Debbie Brown seeks to show that with a little patience and effort it is possible. What could be better? An even more personalised character cake for your child that will please them even more to know that you made it, rather than picked one up at a local store. In many ways it is hard to believe that it is achievable, especially when you consider how slim this book is. But it is!
You are dropped directly into “cooking school” from the introduction. Straight away you are given a concise boot camp for the basic recipes and techniques required for making any of the cakes shown in the book. Don’t like the characters shown? With not much work and a bit of thought you can surely make your own. Fads come and go and despite this book’s age the core knowledge remains the same. To today’s child Fireman Sam, The Wombles, Sonic the Hedgehog, Rupert and Babar might be old, unknown concepts yet invariably they will be popular once again and once you have understood the core building essentials the character world is really your oyster.
It is pleasing that the author has not assumed a high degree of cooking competency in the reader. This is really a book for the average person. Lots of pictures and diagrams show you the necessary processes from making the basic cake mixture, through making hands, faces and bodies and up to the very small fine tuning at the end. Full designs and templates are given for Fireman Sam, The Flower Fairies, The Wombles, My Little Pony, Dennis & Gnasher, Kipper, Garfield, Little Miss, Sonic the Hedgehog, Brambly Hedge, Bananas in Pyjamas, Super Mario, Wallace & Gromit, Gromit, Rugrats, Rupert, Barbar, Sesame Street and Barney.
It is amazing to see what the author has managed to cram into such a small book, yet the reader does not feel shortchanged at the altar of brevity. It would be great to see a “2012″ version of this book, perhaps with some more contemporary, popular characters for “today’s children” yet this book remains still a credible, benchmark, essential work if you want to try and make your own.

Lovable Character Cakes, written by Debbie Brown and published by Murdoch Books. ISBN 1853917273, 96 pages.Typical price: VARIES. YYYYY.


// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //