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I still remember the dog-eared copy of my mum’s Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book – resplendant with the hickory dickory clock and numbered cakes to careen over with delight. Well, get set post-Baby Boomers, because a whole new generation of super dooper cakes for kids is out in AWW’s glossy new More Cakes for Kids tome – with 70 new recipes guaranteed to delight every one in the party-throwing family.
The first thing you’ll notice about this scrumptious book is the styling and photography. Really, really gorgeous – all pastel delight, with beautiful settings, stunning photography and page design to die for. In keeping with the current trend to produce books that look more like a glamorous magazine, the pages are a true credit to the creative team behind More Cakes for Kids, with scalloped edges to photos, beautiful fonts and truly beautiful colouring, you’ll want to own this book just to look at, let alone cook from.
And what of the recipes? Well, let’s just say kids’ cakes have come a long way, baby. There’s some serious sophistication going on here. But before you get in a tizz and cover yourself with panicked poufs of sifted flour, there’s nothing pretentious nor difficult about the recipes in this book – just carefully crafted genius that any home cook, with the right tools (or even without them) can whip up on any average kitchen bench.
Starting with Perfectly Pretty, we’re treated to such luscious creations as a divine fairy cake, a quilted handbag, a strawberry patch to fossick through for sweet fruit, and a castle fit for a princess. There’s also cakes here for Big Girls, too – including a coconut cream layer cake, a high heel and heart tealight boxes to set the heart aflame.
In Fun and Games, the boys come up a treat with an astounding soccer ball, a haunted mountain, a classic fire engine, a super-cool piñata cake and the kookiest (and cutest!) alien you ever did see. There’s also a section for real little kids that include a cake that mimics a house drawing, a beautiful vegie patch and covered in Milo (yum!) and the most divine bubble bath, completely with rubber duckies, you ever did see.
Wait ’til you see the igloo ice cream cake. There’s no way a child can go through life without this one thrown somewhere in the mix (‘scuse the pun).
For bigger kids, there’s a gelato bouquet, a set of candles that appear to melt before your very eyes, a mini mud cake and a choc chip ice cream sandwich that should need no party, birthday nor other celebration to whip up instantaneously (I’m listing ingredients on my shopping list as we speak).
There are 70 new recipes in this book which should keep most bakers happy for quite a while, and yes – you will be thrilled and relieved to know that AWW have come through with a grand finalé of number cakes, from 1 to 9, all beautifully crafted and packed with creativity.
The end of the book features six different cake batter recipes including two that are gluten-free, and there’s also several icing recipes to choose from. An added bonus is the helpful pages on baking information, pans and equipment, creating cakes step-by-step, notes on decorations and a glossary. Finally, a fold out sheet containing templates makes cake creation a breeze.
Styled and photographed to a degree that rivals Martha and Donna combined, More Cakes for Kids may look a tad ambitious to many home cooks, but the creation of these cakes is simpler than meets the eye. A little bit of time and patience is all that’s needed, as the book very carefully explains its how-to processes and outlines the equipment needed to create a masterpiece.