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The Beginner's Guide to Cookie Decorating: Easy Techniques and Expert Tips for Designing and Icing Colorful Treats
You’re inspired by the cookie decorating trend on TV and social media, but how can you find your way through the maze of information out there? You turn to The Beginner’s Guide to Cookie Decorating.
In this comprehensive guide, Mary Valentino of Emma’s Sweets, a winner of the Food Network’s “Christmas Cookie Challenge,” reveals her latest and greatest easy techniques and designs that are perfect for beginner hobbyists.
Everything is included to help you advance your cookie-decorating skills, including information on basic supplies and upgrades, choosing and using color, tasty cookie and icing recipes, and an array of cookie designs: vivid flowers, adorable animals, cute clothing, seasonal motifs, and much more.
She also shares the most up-to-date simple techniques for creating wow effects, including easy hand painting, embellishing, piping, color blocking, sparkly effects, and using molds.
Watch your budding embellishment skills blossom with these ideas and
Professional-looking cookie designs for every season and occasionHow to mix colors and create appealing palettesTechniques and troubleshooting tips for getting the perfect icing consistency every timeNo-fail, delicious cookie and icing recipesHow to get the most out of cookie cuttersHow to achieve dimensional and texture effects that make cookies pop
Let cookie decorating star Mary Valentino show you how simple it is to create amazing cookies that taste as good as they look!
In this comprehensive guide, Mary Valentino of Emma’s Sweets, a winner of the Food Network’s “Christmas Cookie Challenge,” reveals her latest and greatest easy techniques and designs that are perfect for beginner hobbyists.
Everything is included to help you advance your cookie-decorating skills, including information on basic supplies and upgrades, choosing and using color, tasty cookie and icing recipes, and an array of cookie designs: vivid flowers, adorable animals, cute clothing, seasonal motifs, and much more.
She also shares the most up-to-date simple techniques for creating wow effects, including easy hand painting, embellishing, piping, color blocking, sparkly effects, and using molds.
Watch your budding embellishment skills blossom with these ideas and
Professional-looking cookie designs for every season and occasionHow to mix colors and create appealing palettesTechniques and troubleshooting tips for getting the perfect icing consistency every timeNo-fail, delicious cookie and icing recipesHow to get the most out of cookie cuttersHow to achieve dimensional and texture effects that make cookies pop
Let cookie decorating star Mary Valentino show you how simple it is to create amazing cookies that taste as good as they look!
160 pages, Paperback
Published July 12, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 3, 2022
Wanting to be creative in decorating your cookies?
Professional cookie artist and founder of Emma's Sweets, Mary Valentino presents her book "The Beginner's Guide to Cookie Decorating. Easy Techniques and Expert Tips for Designing and Icing Colorful Treats", published by Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry. The book contains four main parts: 1) Baking Basics, 2) Decorating Basics, 3) Seasonal Coolies, and 4) Celebration cookies. Valentino starts with talking about her baking history. She says about her book and her cookie baking experience: "’ll admit that it wasn’t easy at first to decorate a cookie, but I promise that with time, practice, and patience, you too can master this art. This book will provide you with everything you need to know to get started on your cookie decorating journey. You’ll find basic recipes, a variety of techniques, step-by-step tutorials, and so much more. I share everything that I’ve learned over the years, along with tips and tricks for success, so you too can create jaw-dropping creations that are sure to impress" (p. 7). I really like that she also reminds her readers: "A few things to remember: The methods and techniques I use in this book are what work best for me. If you find another way to do it, that’s okay! Do what works for you" (p. 7).
Valentino includes also her cookie recipes and steps for cockier baking. There are tips throughout the book (e.g., freezing cookie dough or rolling tips), repurposing cookie cutters as a bonus project, and an index. The resources can be found on her website. I highly recommend the book for beginners but also for more skilled cookie bakers who are looking for new creative ideas for decorating their own cookies.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#TheBeginnersGuideToCookieDecorating #Netgalley
Professional cookie artist and founder of Emma's Sweets, Mary Valentino presents her book "The Beginner's Guide to Cookie Decorating. Easy Techniques and Expert Tips for Designing and Icing Colorful Treats", published by Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry. The book contains four main parts: 1) Baking Basics, 2) Decorating Basics, 3) Seasonal Coolies, and 4) Celebration cookies. Valentino starts with talking about her baking history. She says about her book and her cookie baking experience: "’ll admit that it wasn’t easy at first to decorate a cookie, but I promise that with time, practice, and patience, you too can master this art. This book will provide you with everything you need to know to get started on your cookie decorating journey. You’ll find basic recipes, a variety of techniques, step-by-step tutorials, and so much more. I share everything that I’ve learned over the years, along with tips and tricks for success, so you too can create jaw-dropping creations that are sure to impress" (p. 7). I really like that she also reminds her readers: "A few things to remember: The methods and techniques I use in this book are what work best for me. If you find another way to do it, that’s okay! Do what works for you" (p. 7).
Valentino includes also her cookie recipes and steps for cockier baking. There are tips throughout the book (e.g., freezing cookie dough or rolling tips), repurposing cookie cutters as a bonus project, and an index. The resources can be found on her website. I highly recommend the book for beginners but also for more skilled cookie bakers who are looking for new creative ideas for decorating their own cookies.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#TheBeginnersGuideToCookieDecorating #Netgalley
June 19, 2022
Cookie Decorating
The colorful cookies on the cover of this book drew me in. I started by flipping through this book, admiring the gorgeous cookies. It was so visually satisfying, all the brilliant colors and shapes made my heart happy & brought a smile to my lips. Then I started reading.
I love that this is a beginner-level book! It's user-friendly. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. The step-by-step directions with picture tutorials make it easy to follow along. I appreciated the author offering four styles of cookies with one icing. What a great idea! By keeping it simple, I didn't get overwhelmed and felt inspired to create some adorable cookies.
Our author, Ms. Mary, does a good job
covering equipment, tools and the many decorating options available. I was most interested in learning how she achieved that perfect smooth, clean look. Those beautiful cookies look so intimidating. This book covers the variety of usage for the royal icing. She covers everything from the different consistency of icing you need. And how important, icing consistency is to the different nozzles to achieve different effects. Ms Mary left room for personal growth in this book with more challenging projects. Make your cookies as simple or complex as you like.
Overall, this is a great beginner-level book! Would highly recommend this book to people interested in upping their cookie game. I'm looking forward to my husband and son going on a scout camp for a week. They are cookie monsters and would interfere with our decorating. My daughter and I can try to make some gorgeous cookies while they're gone.
Thank you, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing- Group-Quarry, for providing me with a digital ARC for an honest review.
The colorful cookies on the cover of this book drew me in. I started by flipping through this book, admiring the gorgeous cookies. It was so visually satisfying, all the brilliant colors and shapes made my heart happy & brought a smile to my lips. Then I started reading.
I love that this is a beginner-level book! It's user-friendly. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. The step-by-step directions with picture tutorials make it easy to follow along. I appreciated the author offering four styles of cookies with one icing. What a great idea! By keeping it simple, I didn't get overwhelmed and felt inspired to create some adorable cookies.
Our author, Ms. Mary, does a good job
covering equipment, tools and the many decorating options available. I was most interested in learning how she achieved that perfect smooth, clean look. Those beautiful cookies look so intimidating. This book covers the variety of usage for the royal icing. She covers everything from the different consistency of icing you need. And how important, icing consistency is to the different nozzles to achieve different effects. Ms Mary left room for personal growth in this book with more challenging projects. Make your cookies as simple or complex as you like.
Overall, this is a great beginner-level book! Would highly recommend this book to people interested in upping their cookie game. I'm looking forward to my husband and son going on a scout camp for a week. They are cookie monsters and would interfere with our decorating. My daughter and I can try to make some gorgeous cookies while they're gone.
Thank you, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing- Group-Quarry, for providing me with a digital ARC for an honest review.
June 28, 2022
I love beautifully decorated cookies. And I saw want to be able to do that myself. Try as I might I can never make mine look as pretty as the professionals. This book might help me hon my skills so that I too can decorate cookies that I can be proud of. I don't think they will ever be as beautiful as the ones in the book, but they can improve. All beautiful cookies start with a good sugar cookie recipe. This recipe looks really easy and good. She shows some really good, easy techniques that anyone can do to make pretty cookies. There are step by step pictures of how to flood cookies for a nice flat surface. Decorating with both royal icing and buttercream frosting as well. I think it is time to just practice, practice, practice. This would be a fun book to use for beautiful cookies for family and friends.
June 15, 2022
Excellent cover and easy to follow tips for cookie decorating. The book covers four different kinds of cookies, one type of icing and a variety of decorations ideas.
What did I like? The book was pretty basic and doesn’t throw too much at you. Keeping the four types of cookies and one icing makes the book pretty genius in my opinion. Most of the book was on the variety of usage for the icing. A great beginner level book!
Would I recommend or buy? I’d definitely put a copy on my shelf. I enjoyed looking at the unique methods of decorations and couldn’t help but wonder how they taste!
I received a complimentary copy to sneak a peek at and voluntarily left this opinion.
What did I like? The book was pretty basic and doesn’t throw too much at you. Keeping the four types of cookies and one icing makes the book pretty genius in my opinion. Most of the book was on the variety of usage for the icing. A great beginner level book!
Would I recommend or buy? I’d definitely put a copy on my shelf. I enjoyed looking at the unique methods of decorations and couldn’t help but wonder how they taste!
I received a complimentary copy to sneak a peek at and voluntarily left this opinion.
July 25, 2022
This is a fabulous book!
I love to bake but have never been brave enough to attempt to decorate cookies with royal icing. But this book literally takes you step by step through the whole process and having read it, I genuinely think that I could do it as long as I took my time and followed the instructions in this book, which by the way, also have really clear photos to accompany them.
I have no hesitation in highly recommending this book and I will be looking to get a physical copy ready for me to start practicing.
My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.
I love to bake but have never been brave enough to attempt to decorate cookies with royal icing. But this book literally takes you step by step through the whole process and having read it, I genuinely think that I could do it as long as I took my time and followed the instructions in this book, which by the way, also have really clear photos to accompany them.
I have no hesitation in highly recommending this book and I will be looking to get a physical copy ready for me to start practicing.
My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.
July 10, 2022
Hands down this is literally the best book on cookie decorating I have EVER seen! This isn’t just decorating it cookie art. I mean literally if it wasn’t food you could frame the designs. The pictures and finished cookies are remarkable. I learned so much m. I can’t say I can replicate these beautiful designs but my skills with practice will most definitely be hugely improved. I absolutely with zero hesitation 100% recommend this book. It is seriously the cookie decorating bible of cookie beauty! Just Love it! It would be the perfect gift fir anyone who loved baking treats.
August 28, 2022
Cookie decorating is fascinating and intimidating to me, and my teens and I both wanted to check this guide out (we all loved it!).
I love the clean and fun layout of this one, the photos, along with the encouraging writing of the author and her accessible instructions.
Recommended for the middle school aged and above home baker / craftster looking to learn a new skill.
Temporary PDF provided by Quarry Books / Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.
I love the clean and fun layout of this one, the photos, along with the encouraging writing of the author and her accessible instructions.
Recommended for the middle school aged and above home baker / craftster looking to learn a new skill.
Temporary PDF provided by Quarry Books / Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.
April 13, 2022
Cute guide to cookie decorating! It has a recipe for sugar cookies, chocolate cookies, gingerbread cookies, shortbread cookies, and royal icing. Then it teaches you some decorating techniques, and show how to decorate some seasonal cookies and celebration cookies. I received a free digital copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.
July 18, 2022
I have always wanted to be able to bake and decorate cookies that look beautiful and taste great. This book is so much fun and you definitely do not have to have any prior experience because she explains everything so well alongside the great pictures. I thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this cookbook.
July 2, 2022
This is a great cookie book for anyone just starting out! I’m more advanced at this point, but I think this covers pretty much anyone will need to start out for fun or even anyone considering selling!
January 20, 2025
I borrowed this on the Libby app because I have been thinking about trying out decorating cookies with this icing method. I would say it was informative and had a lot of ideas for design, but it was boring and not super beginner friendly.
June 22, 2022
I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Very informative. Shows you how to make a lot of cookie styles and lots of recipes. Highly recommend for all bakers out there.
August 3, 2022
Cute colourful photos. Could use a few more steps in the projects. Lots of basic steps. Many look like cookies I have seen on tv.
August 30, 2022
So many great ideas and step by step instructions. I’m an okay baker but decorating isn’t my forte. After reading this book I feel like I may be upping my game! Well maybe.
January 1, 2023
Thank you Netgalley.
This was a cute how-to book for decorating cookies. Includes very helpful pictures to follow along with.
This was a cute how-to book for decorating cookies. Includes very helpful pictures to follow along with.
February 9, 2023
Lots of photos to show steps.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews