Krystina Castella

In Florida this winter I got into the habit of eating popsicles at night. Not one popsicle. Usually at least 4. Grape. It got expensive. So I went on Amazon looking for popsicle molds so I could make my own. This book was suggested and it sounded interesting so I bought it and I'm glad I did. It has loads of ideas for all kinds of flavors, textures, mix-ins, and ways to make them pretty. Without this book I never would have decided to bring popsicles to a pot luck supper. They were a hit!

I have books of cupcake recipes (just how many ways can you make a chocolate cake?) and books of cupcake designs, but this is a book of both. 30 pages of baking and decorating hints and techniques, 33 pages of cupcake recipes, 20 pages of icing and topping recipes, and 120 pages of how to put them all together, with ideas for all occassions. And there are cutesie little kid designs and sophisticated designs I would be proud to take to the office.
Having a photo by each recipe would make this show more a 5-star book. (I'm spoiled that way.) But there are a LOT of pictures. There may be a picture of each recipe, you just have to go a few pages forward or back to find it.
Very well done and useful! show less

Bleh, the very first recipe I tried in this one came out both under cooked *and* burned, it was a disaster and went right into the trash. That's literally the first cake I've made in my life that hasn't been in any way edible. I'm leery of trying any others, there's a lot of gimmickry in here but a couple of stand alone appealing ones have been bookmarked for when I get up the nerve.

Good photography and instructions, plus numerous variations. The at-a-glance symbols giving the cook info on the recipe's potency, cake style, number of servings, etc, are convenient and a very welcome touch for menu planning. I would have liked to see a couple more recipes including beer to round out the collection.