Fairy Tale Baking: More Than 50 Enchanting Cakes, Bakes, and Decorations

Gr 9 Up—Khan knows the magic of putting books and food together, and she provides recipes and techniques for fairy tale-themed edible creations, from simple Peter Pan's hats made of fortune cookies decorated with feathers to an elaborate Jack and the Beanstalk cake with meringue clouds. The photographs are excellent and accompanied by step-by-step instructions (with measurements and temperatures in both metric and imperial). The introductory section (14 pages) describes ingredients and gadgets and procedures designed to help bakers make cakes that look as good as they taste. There are several charts to help with planning and a list of specialty suppliers for decorating materials. Compared with other cookbooks for elaborate baking, this volume contains complete recipes and well-developed instructions. This compendium has advantages over finding instructions from the Internet for a single cake, because the recipes build on one another. The only aspect that Khan neglects to display is the trial and error (and patience) required to create these pretty confections. The dishes are also fairly demanding and call for very specific (and sometimes expensive) supplies, making this title appropriate for a more niche audience.