Sweet! Celebrations: The Ultimate Dessert and Party Planning Companion

Adding party design to her signature approach to baking, Strachan, an Australian pastry chef, popular blogger, and YouTube host, wows her fans and newcomers with showstopping confections that home bakers of all skill levels can create for every occasion. From elegant to simple, celebratory themes include tea and garden parties, romantic “sweets for my sweet” goodies, spring flings, barbecues, and major holidays. With styling tips for home-crafted decor along with matching beverages, Strachan’s parties encourage entertaining with flair, and her whimsical cakes are particularly wondrous. There are centerpiece cakes that resemble pouring teapots, giant hotdogs in rolls, fried chicken drumsticks, and carrots in a chocolate dirt garden. Lighter-than-air butterfly cookies and balloon cakes, zombie brain cupcakes, and strawberry lemon meringues shaped like large roses are just some of the highly imaginative and mind-bending creations that party girl Strachan bakes with simple tools. She includes a few foundation recipes: classic sugar cookie and cake pop doughs, basic buttercream and ganache frostings, and vanilla and chocolate cakes. This entertainment bible is a color-packed guide that borders on the ridiculous, but it also will inspire bakers. (Oct.)