Thursday 26 September 2013

Peachy Review: Parragon Books 'Make, Bake, Cupcake'




At the start of the month, I mentioned that I was going to be a Book Buddy for Parragon Publishing - mostly reviewing some of their fabulous cook books.  I was really excited to receive my first book a few weeks ago and, well, what a book it is! 

Make, Bake, Cupcake! is a fabulous baking book, featuring lots of novelty cupcake recipes; from cocktail inspirations through to cute animals and gruesome Halloween ideas.  As someone who used to bake cupcakes for a living; this book could not have been more perfect for me, in terms of injecting some much needed fun into cupcake baking again!

The book has a really great look about it, with fun clear images of the finished cupcakes themselves and a few 'process' shots to guide you along the way.  The book is divided into five chapters; 'Cocktails and Mocktails', 'Feisty Flavours', 'Fun and Frosted', 'Scary Cute' and 'Hidden Surprises'.  Each section is separated with a cute cupcake divider and the book itself is really fun to navigate, whilst you're getting your ideas together!  

Each recipe is fairly simple to follow and the cake baking itself is pretty straightforward.  Much of the cake decoration requires ingredients such as candy melts and food colourings, so planning in advance has to be a must.  Nevertheless, the decorations are so much fun - it's difficult to choose which to do.  

As part of the review, I thought I would try my hand at one of the recipes and decided to try the 'Belly-Up Bear' cupcakes, just in time for Mr Peachy's nephew's First Birthday!  This was one of the easier recipes to follow and only required some basics for decorating.  I found the recipe (and believe me, I've followed hundreds in my time) really simple to follow and the results, even though I was very pushed for time, the result wasn't too bad (not my usual uber-perfectionist standard) and I loved the fluffy effect of the dessicated coconut.



Overall, I love this book, it's a real welcome addition to my brimming recipe book shelf and has really introduced some exciting ways to decorate cupcakes.  The big question is, what do I do next?  I'm thinking some Squished Witches for Halloween, followed by some cute Dabbling Ducks!

Make Bake Cupcake by Love Food, Edited by Parragon Books is available to buy now! 

Disclaimer: I was sent this book by Parragon Books to review for this blog, all opinions in this review are my own.

1 comment:

Laura Made Peachy said...

Those bear cakes are awesome! I love seeing how the recipes turn out - and that they are as delicious as they look! Now I really want to go and eat cake! :D
Laura xox