Cake My Day! Easy, Eye-Popping Designs for Stunning, Fanciful, and Funny Cakes

Tack and Richardson (Hello, Cupcake!) continue their over-the-top whimsy and creativity with decorating ideas suitable for homemade and store-bought cakes. The cover's Abominable Unbaked Alaska monster includes devil's food cake, vanilla ice cream, Oreos, Junior Mints, and spice drops, among other confections. Scratch cakes can be outfitted with "surprises," including donut-holes placed within batter in a springform pan to create polka dots, and layered batters used in the Zebra Cake. A variety of animal cakes%E2%80%94sheep, cow, goat, goldfish, and ladybug%E2%80%94make for great birthday centerpieces for younger children, whereas less conventional and widely imaginative options such as the Leopard Skin Purse Cake, Slot Machine Cake, and Stump Cake can be crowd-pleasers for the adult set. Holiday selections include the Faberg%C3%A9 Egg Cake and Bedazzled Christmas Tree Cake. Easy numbered steps and enthusiastic headnotes are sure to inspire anyone to go beyond a basic yellow layer cake. (Mar.)