A few weeks ago a friend gave me Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. I was thrilled. I had my eye on this book for months. So, I was ready and eager to create something fun and surprising with cupcakes posthaste. My daughter's birthday was on the horizon and seeing she loves pasta the spaghetti and meatballs cupcakes were the perfect choice.The materials lists, instructions and photos for each cupcake in the book were very well written and easy to understand. The book has about 50 cupcake designs. They are divided into 6 chapters, such as animals and holidays. In addition, there is one chapter on technique and one chapter with recipes.
I do, however, have one sticking point and that is the suggestion to use ziplock bags for pastry bags. I have tried this in the past and they are just not strong enough, or I have a firm grip on these bags, which results in breakage. Breakage is not a good thing with colored frosting. I would stay with traditional reusable pastry bags or disposable ones. It is worth the extra costs.
All in all I love this book and the designs. It is fun and imaginative. After you try a few cupcake designs you may never look at Ferrero Rocher chocolate or caramel sauce the same way again.
Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, paperback $15.95, 2008.
