As the centerpiece of a celebration or finale to a simple meal, cakes have enduring popularity. The most versatile of all desserts, they can be light and delicate, dark and luscious, and they are always a pleasure to look at. Freshly baked and frosted, a homemade cake enhances any gathering. Now, with PRETTY CAKES, the home baker can turn out a wide variety of delicious, beautifully decorated cakes that look professional but are easy to prepare following the authors' step-by-step instructions.

Chapter 1 addresses the do's and don't's of successful baking, from how to measure flour to where to position the rack in the oven to how to handle a pastry bag. In Chapter 2 are the building blocks from which all the cakes have been made; a selection of tried and tme recipes for cakes, filling, frostings, and decorations.

Instructions for creating over 50 cakes follow, organized by season and occasion. Each cake has been rated for its level of difficulty so the reader can begin a recipe with confidence. And, having mastered the fundamentals of cake baking and decorating, you can create your own cakes by combining the cake recipes, fillings, and frostings to suit your own tastes and needs. PRETTY CAKES offers a complete, structured course in cake making and decorating that anyone can use successfully.