Wedding Cakes You Can Make: Designing, Baking, and Decorating the Perfect Wedding Cake

by Dede Wilson

Make the cake?

Yes, you can.

If you love to bake and are willing to plan ahead, you can make a spectacular wedding cake--and you don't have to be a pastry chef to do it! Let prominent wedding cake expert Dede Wilson guide you through every layer of the process--from choosing among flavors and styles to baking, assembling, and decorating your way to a beautiful and delicious cake. This accessible cookbook not only gets you ready for the big event, it helps you lend a truly personal touch to the celebration.

"If you want to make your own wedding cake, Dede Wilson is the perfect guide. She helps you bake with confidence every step of the way to a delicious personalized result."
--Donna Ferrari, BRIDE'S magazine

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction

176 pages, Hardcover

First published March 11, 2005

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, thorough instructions. The designs are sophisticed but simple, so that even beginners can make them. Also, I loved that the recipes were broken down, so that you know exactly how much you need for 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 inch tiers, as I could never do the math to break the recipes down myself. I also liked all the different options for flavor combinations, with different choices for cake, filling, syrup and frostings, all with a ton of variations. I'm trying out the recipes next week-- white chocolate cake, marble cake, and yellow cake, as well as the moistening syrup, raspberry filling, and the Italian merengue buttercream.

[Carolyn Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

After going through my own wedding (we bought our cake from Wal-Mart)--I'd say this: I wouldn't make my own cake for my wedding, but I'd definitely make it for someone else's. This brings the magic down to earth.

[Ligaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best book I've read on the specifics of making a cake for an important event! The author gives exact ingredient measurements for different size and shape (rounds, ovals, squares, rectangles) cakes so one doesn't have to do the complex math, as well as saying how many servings each size yields. (An 8" round pan holds almost double the volume of a 6" round pan!) Techniques for assembling tiers is clearing explained and photographed. My wishes for this book would be more photographs showing decoration and piping and a big improvement would be the inclusion of photos showing cakes cut to show how the layers look - the author describes many in mouth-watering detail! The copy I checked out of the library was smeared with old batter and greasy with butter, almost falling apart, it was, apparently, so popular! I recently bought my own copy!

[Miss Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it is much more complicated than most "cookbooks" you normally grab, but it gives precise and exact instructions for the construction, decoration, presentation and preservation of your culinary masterpiece to-be. It has plenty of tips and advice for preparation that can be done in advance so its not all last minute and other useful tidbits, especially for a first-time wedding cake-maker/ baker.

And the cakes themselves are light and decadent, simple or lavish. Lemon. Chocolate. Berry-centric. Coconut. Classic white and yellow cakes. All the best variations and a few new ones. Or if you have a favorite cake recipe, just use some of the decoration designs.

[Jenneffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I damaged this library book and had to purchase it back in 2006 or 2007, but it has been one of the best purchases I have ever made! Evidenced by the stains and loose pages, I have used Dede's recipes time and time again. Her recipe for essential buttercream is top notch, and her descriptions of what to expect at every stage, and how to troubleshoot are very straightforward.

I love her aesthetic; simple yet elegant. Two thumbs up.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for ideas for making you're own cake but if you want to do something completely different and non tiered then I wouldn't suggest reading it. I liked the ideas it gave me but I'd rather go with regular cake recipes that I just use for different layered cakes rather than a 3 tiered cake that looks similar on the outside.

[Tecpatl · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I love this book because she makes you feel at ease about tackling a cake project this big, especially If you have never really worked on any cake before. She gives exact measurements and is very specific about every subject. The recipes are great

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I wouldn't offer to do anyone's wedding cake but heck, it was fun.

[Robin Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite wedding cake book. I've used this one for my brother-in-laws wedding cake. She has impressive cakes that we really can make:)

[Shavonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book to bake my God-sister's wedding cake. It turned out really well. I was very helpful

[Susan Treat · Rating 5 out of 5]

good ideas in here for weddings