The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes, and Cupcakes from New York City's Famed Bakery

Proprietor of the titular bakery in New York City, Strauss offers a bevy of specific, helpful tips that will enable readers to replicate her whimsical and eye-catching designs. Opening with a detailed list of key tools (tape measure, scale, paring knife, scalpel) and basic techniques (overpiping, filling a pastry bag, making sugar bows), Strauss lays the groundwork for the heavy lifting: creating artful cookies, cakes and cupcakes using fondant, frosting and gum paste. Featured projects run the gamut from the relatively easy Pool Ball Cupcakes, Dice Mini Cakes and Snowflake Cookies to more advanced items like Teacup Mini Cakes (they look like detailed porcelain) and the gorgeous Chocolate Embroidery Wedding Cake (as seen on Sex and the City). Strauss is a patient and encouraging teacher, offering detailed instructions and drawings for complex accoutrements such as flowers, teddy bears and even shoes. Those with an interest in fondant-based cake designs will find this an informative and challenging introduction to the art.