I Geeked Out at Barnes and Noble

I always gravitate toward the cookbook section in bookstores. Sure, I check out the fiction novels, the Spanish books, the mystery novels, the teen section...but eventually, I'm always sitting cross-legged on the floor with a nicely illustrated cookbook in my lap.

The other day I found Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food, and Shirley Corriher's BakeWise (which was $40 at B&N. I checked it out from the library but I really need my own copy), as well as Toba Garrett's Wedding Cake Art and Design, which was $50 but gorgeous. I didn't put that on my birthday list because I didn't know about it...but the designs are amazing! I was definitely inspired.

My friends dragged me out of the store before I had time to latch myself to another book, but I'm seriously going to buy myself BakeWise if no one gets it for my birthday. (Just a note to my relatives who read my blog: tell my mom that I really want this book. She still doesn't know what to get me. Also, shout out to Aunt Elsie! Thanks for visiting me at Publix on Sunday!)

Science Rules!

It may appear from my lack of blogging over the past few weeks that I have not been baking, but that's not true at all. Just two days after the Wizarding Independence Day party, I broke out my cupcake pans in order to celebrate Katie's confirmation. My friends and I made two cake mixes worth of cake balls (and realized that white chocolate candy melts/confectionary coating/bark chocolate is an awful substitute for the milk chocolate stuff. Never again...) and for my brother's kindergarten teacher's birthday, I made some awesome and delicious confetti cupcakes and confirmed my theory on the secret of amazing buttercream. I also ate lunch with Adam at school and personally experienced how adorable kindergarteners really are. But I'm getting off topic; we're talking about baking.

Aside from the informal cake balls and cupcakes, my ventures into the kitchen have been limited since the exciting and exhausting Hogwarts cake. In the meantime though, I have fallen in love..

 ...With science. I know. I know. Go ahead and say it: I am the world's biggest nerd. But I got a huge stack of books from the library (all baking or decorating related) and two of my favorites are Understanding Baking and BakeWise.
 

The way the respective authors explain the how's and why's of baking is simply amazing. I could go on and on about the eye-opening and mind-blowing things that I've learned, but I'm afraid I might bore you, despite my huge doses of enthusiasm. However, if you are as nerdy as I am, I highly recommend that you read these books. I never knew how much I wanted to know the information they contained until I started reading them (yes, I am reading them both at the same time) and I can't wait to tweak some of my favorite recipes and-- dare I say it?-- create some of my own.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should finish reading first, no matter how much I want to jump head first into a bag of flour (cake flour, of course) and become the Bill Nye of the kitchen.

Oh, and my secret to awesome buttercream? Beat it. A lot, and for a long time. The texture is amazing. And use real (unsalted, room temperature) butter. But you already knew that.

Confetti Cake for Kids

With all the chaos that has been going on in my life, from getting a new oven to wrapping up 13 years of public school and finally graduating, I completely forgot that I wrote a review for Elisa Strauss' book Confetti Cakes for Kids.

So, for your reading pleasure, I now present to you my take on a book that is filled with some of the most amazing cakes/cookies/cupcakes by the inspiring Elisa Strauss (who also has a blog, by the way.  You should check it out for more cakey goodness).

First of all, let's start with the pictures.  Maybe because I'm a kid at heart (being only 17, after all) or maybe because the book is written about kid's cakes, but this book is filled with some very colorful pictures, which is always a plus for me.  I can get a little bored reading pictureless cookbooks, but I didn't have to worry about that in CCK.  And speaking of kids, my little brother enjoyed looking through the book with me, so it certainly appeals to everyone young and old.  Hopefully he doesn't expect me to make anything quite so fancy and flawless yet!

You think Confetti Cakes for Kids has an adorable cover?  You can't judge a book by its cover, but in this case, that's OK, because there are lots of charming pictures between the covers.  Like the Quinceañera cake (I wish I had a Quinceañera) and the ice cream cupcakes and the beach pail cupcakes and the iPod cake and the...  Alright, alright, you get the point.  But talk about looking too good to eat (that's actually cake?!)... and these are just the photos!

So once I finally finished gushing over the gorgeous, flawless pictures, I got down to the meat and potatos of the book and started reading.

I am an avid reader and I was not disappointed.  If you've never decorated a cake before, then this book is definitely helpful:  there's all kinds of tips for beginners, as well some tools that you might find useful (like a KitchenAide mixer, maybe?).  And if, like me, you've been doing this for a while, don't worry, you'll find something helpful, too.  Like how to cover a round cake in fondant, something that seems daunting but the instructions are clear and (of course!) the pictures help, too.

Needless to say, there are plenty of recipes, like Confetti Cake's most requested cake flavor: chocolate.  (Mmmm. I would request it too.) And I seriously want to try peanut butter buttercream.  If you, like I, get hungry after reading a recipe book, then your tummy definitely will be rumbling after you read through these recipes.

I could go on and on about the merits of this particular book.  If you've checked out the Confetti Cakes blog (or maybe you're lucky enough to check out the actual bakery in NY) then you know what I'm talking about.  However, I don't want to bore you with my review when you can just read the book yourself: it will be much more satisfying, I'm sure.

So there you have it.  My humble little homage to Confetti Cakes for Kids.  Maybe my review has inspired you to go out and buy the book yourself, or at least look for it at the library, and you won't be disappointed.  But maybe you'd like a free copy...?  Good news!  I can give away 5 copies of CCK to a few lucky Cakes by Kelsie readers who live in the US (no PO Boxes; sorry for any inconvience).  How, you may ask?  Just leave a quick comment sharing your favorite childhood cake and next Saturday I'll randomly choose 5 readers to receive a copy.  If you win, I'll get in touch with you, so make sure you leave your e-mail address too.

P.S. I'll have pictures up of my graduation cake soon, if everything goes smoothly.  Thanks for your patience!