Bake and Make Amazing Cakes

by Elizabeth MacLeod, June Bradford (Illustrator)

Cakes -- especially homemade ones -- make any celebration special! This book is filled with 19 easy-to-do cake designs and decorating tips simple enough for kids to try on their own. Decorating with candies, cookies and other goodies means that no fancy pastry bags or labor-intensive parental supervision is required. The illustrated step-by-step instructions, full-color photos and delicious cake and icing recipes in this book in the Kids Can Do It series help kids take cakes from plain to WOW in no time flat! Kids can make a * scary dinosaur * bright butterfly * spooky jack-o'-lantern * cuddly cat * lucky rainbow * terrific tiger

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Crafts

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2001

About the author

Elizabeth MacLeod was born on October 21 in Toronto. As a child Liz liked to read Nancy Drew and Anne of Green Gables books, swim, sing, dance, and hang out with her friends. Encouraged by her parents, she began writing stories and poetry for her own enjoyment at the age of 10, her favorite subjects being mad scientists and tyrants who threatened to take over the world.

Today Liz is inspired by almost anything--her friends, reading, and the funny, beautiful world around her. Her first job in publishing was at OWL magazine, and Liz credits editor Sylvia Funston as one of her mentors. Liz also names Valerie Wyatt, a writer and editor, as an important influence on her work, as well as a good friend.

An avid reader, Liz enjoyed digging up amazing facts and researching historic royals and their countries and customs for Royal Murder (2008). She encourages anyone with a desire to write to "just do it." Even if no one ever reads it, the joy that comes from expressing yourself through words is reward enough. Liz adds that writing takes practice, and with each day you are bound to improve.

Liz lives in Toronto with her husband, Paul, and their two cats, Smedley and Cosmo.

She enjoys keeping active, spending time with friends, music, theater, and cheering on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Liz plans to continue writing about a broad spectrum of topics in both fiction and non-fiction, and would like to work on more picture books in the future.

Reviews

[Taryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun, very doable cakes. I am not a pro, so this is great for me. She includes a lot of helpful details, and I recommend using the cake recipes in the back instead of cake mixes, because her recipes are denser and will hold up the ornamentation better than a fluffy cake mix cake. They aren't too dense to be yummy though.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

With easy to follow, illustrated instructions, this book is perfect for kids to be involved in creating their own special cakes. My children are always pouring over picture books with elaborately decorated cakes which we could never actually make, and this book was just the answer for us. Here are 19 creations that we can actually do! Each project starts with a basic round or rectangular cake, which you then cut into simple shapes to assemble and frost. MacLeod includes designs that will appeal to boys and girls, including a cuddly cat, scary dinosaur, haunted castle, and spring flowers. The directions are illustrated with clear drawings that show how to cut and assemble the cake pieces. Best of all, children can used this as a spring board for creating their own designs.

[Cindi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't exceptional. There are better books out there with more beautiful creations. I need to look at this one again though since it is for kids. Maybe it would inspire my daughter.