Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse

By Kaye Hansen and Liv Hansen

Book Overview

The mania for miniature sweets is gaining momentummaybe due to happy memories of the magical tea parties of our childhood, or the intimacy of having our own tiny treat in a supersized world, with no need to share! The mother-daughter team at the Riviera Bakehouse in Westchester, New York, and authors ofThe Whimsical BakehouseandChristmas Cookies from the Whimsical Bakehousenow present an abundance of fabulous new recipes for little decorated cakes, cheesecakes, cupcakes, and moreall in fresh flavor combinations, like caramel cake with dulce de leche buttercream or spicy chocolate cake with cinnamon-chocolate whipped cream. This comprehensive introduction to baking in miniature also provides tips on glazing, icing, and making chocolate decorations and offers details on the equipment you need to get started (including a cake pan chart, so that you can use those mini rose pans, heart pans, and other fun shapes to bake unique creations). The authors are famous for their over-the-top decorations, and they'll take you step-by-step through the process of creating cakes piped and appliqu?d with bumblebees (white chocolate wings and nonpareil stripes make them irresistible!), blooming roses (or, if you prefer, delicate hydrangeas with lifelike shaded petals), wild meringues (dressed with tiger stripes, zebra stripes, or leopard spots), and spiky dragons (right down to the serpentine tail). The recipes inLittle Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouseare categorized into three levels: one star for easy, two for intermediate, and three for challenging. So whether you want to start with a charming, super-easy star-shaped mini strawberry shortcake or strive for A Day at the Beach pail-shaped cake, complete with cookie-crumb sand, chocolate shovel, and edible seashells, you'll find a cool confection that fits your skills. If you're not ready for complicated decorating, this book also provides easy presentation ideas to make simple cakes look grander, ensuring the perfect finish to any occasion. Little cakes are as fun to make as they are delicious to eat! After all, who'd turn down a bitand a biteof joy in their lives?

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307382826
• ISBN13: 9780307382825
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter Publishers
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.8" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful RECIPE Book

The recipes in this book are better than most I have found in other cupcake/mini dessert books. I have other books with some better designs for finishing off a fancy cupcake that looks like a butterfly or is covered in elaborate flowers. This cookbook, though, has delicious cake and icing recipes, and I have loved every one I have tried. After all, maybe for kids a cupcake loaded up with icing to make it a clown is the height of yumminess, but for the rest of us, a truly tasty little treat is a surprise and a delight.

LITTLE CAKES Cupcake Book

Perfect book, just what I was looking for. Great pictures, and good recipes. Just what I was looking for. This seller ships quickly.

Book cover doesn't do them justice

The cover of this book doesn't do it justice. The cakes on the cover are cute but fairly plain. But what you find in the book is several good recipes -- and some _adorable_ little cakes, from simple and plain to quite fancy -- from little corn muffins to an iced shark cake (shaped like a shark jumping out of the water) to elegant little fondant-decorated cakes. Some of the cakes are geared toward kids, but some of them are quite elegant and appropriate for adults. I hope the publisher will add the "search inside" feature and give folks a better glimpse of what this little gem of a book contains.

best baking book

Hi everyone I am a baker in new york went to school in london and have just about every book on baking a few weeks ago came across little cakes from the whimsical bakehouse all I can say is this book is wonderful every recipe in the book came out great and is very easy to understand putting together the recipes was to say the least a breeze not much can go wrong with this book I would recommend buying this book I plan on buying all her books and visting her bakehouse happy baking all Antoinette From brooklyn

A wonderful book!

First, as this book's title indicates, this is a book about little desserts. From cupcakes to muffins to small cakes. Dessert in miniature, which is pretty trendy right now. So if you're looking for a repeat of their first book, you'll find it here, only in miniature form. The corn muffin recipe was delicious, and their decorations are phenomenal. Just to give you an idea of the recipes offered, here's a selection. . . Anytime Little Cakes & Muffins. . Corn Muffins, Blueberry Muffins, Zucchini Muffins, Banana Muffins, Whole Wheat Blackberry Muffins, Oatmeal Muffins, Pumpkin Muffins, Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins, Almond Coffee Cakes, Blueberry Crumb Cakes. . Special Occasion Little Cakes Strawberry Shortcakes, Raspberry Cheesecakes (miniature, of course), Falling leaves (melted candy painted to look like leaves!), Pumpkin spice cheesecakes, Matt's upside-down cakes (they look soooo delicious!), Nostalgic nibbles and Devilish delights (basically their nod to the twinkie and a chocolate counterpart), Make a wish cupcakes (their interpretation of their "mini" cake from their first book, only in cupcake form), halloween cupcakes, Pate a Choux nests and Pastry Cream, Wild Meringues, and Dulce De Leche, and more! There are even 3-d Apple bushel cakes (the actual cupcake looks like a bushel of apples - so cute!), Flower pots (the actual pot is candy coating!), and there are directions on how to make your cupcakes look like several different flowers (gorgeous!), and then there's the 3-d Christmas trees, & the much desired Tiered mini cakes (one's a dragon - it's gorgeous, another one has a Paisley design, and the final cake is decorated in beautiful Lilacs. And all of the frosting and filling recipes they suggest using are here, plus the cake batters. I think you'll find their books inspiring, easy to use, and fun to look at over and over again. Also, the recipe for Kaye's buttercream is in here (it is out of this world!) and it's scaled down from the version in their first book, to make half a recipe. I can't stress this enough, this is a miniature bakery book - think cupcakes, mini muffins, muffins, and single portion desserts. If that interests you, then you're going to absolutely love this book! As a sidenote, as anyone who owns any of their three cookbooks can tell you, the photos are fabulous! You never have to guess what your dessert is going to look like, and the templates are included in the back of the book. Just buy it!