Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Buttercream Botanicals for Beginners is a well written, accessible, and beginner friendly tutorial guide by Leslie Vigil. Released 8th Nov 2022 by Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 128 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.
This book reads like a really well run and enjoyable workshop with a competent and fun facilitator. She begins with an overview over tools and supplies (including the best tutorial on choosing and using piping bags and tips I've ever read), and builds up slowly to introduce recipes, techniques, icing surfaces for decoration, and finishing and arrangements and presentations.
There are tutorial exercises throughout which build up techniques through repetition and clear step by step photos. The recipes for buttercream and vanilla cake are basic and no-frills, so learners can concentrate on acquiring technique instead of varying the "tools" of cake base and frosting. The book is beautifully photographed throughout and readers could definitely build the skills necessary to produce the cupcakes on the cover using only information contained in the book.
Five stars. This is an impressive and accessible book. Highly recommended for public or school library acquisition, as well as home use and gift giving.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
Reviewed by annieb123 on
Reading updates
- 20 November, 2022: Started reading
- 20 November, 2022: Finished reading
- 20 November, 2022: Reviewed