...or for anyone else who might know this....

Is anyone familiar with Ann Pickard's books "Idiots Guide to...."? I have been looking at some UK sites and I have seen these books. It is difficult to tell if they would be a good purchase or not so I am hoping that someone has had some experience with them. Grem? MissBaritone? Tuggy?

Thanks!

tripletmom

Hi Tripletmom,

I haven´t bought a book from her, because I allways prefered Debbie Browns books. For my opinion her figures aren´t that characteristic (hope thats the right word). She has done lovely cakes with good ideas, but if you look for something different, buy the books of Debbie.

If you don´t want to buy one right away, I can take a look closer to her books in November, as I will go to the Birmingham cake exhibition and she will have a stand there.

Thanks Tuggy! I, too, like Debbie Brown however I am always looking to add more books to my collection. I love the art of sugarcraft however it is difficult to really get information on that particular medium here in North America. As an example most people thought that my scarecrow cake was really a hat with a 'scene' on top of it...I guess it does look like a hat however this, of course, was not the intention.

Have you ever take a look at Lindy Smith: http://www.lindyscakes.co.uk/
She wrote several books jet and she does figure modelling as well as 3D cakes or wedding cakes.

Oh yes, she is another one that has also caught my eye in addition to Maisie Parrish...such talents!!! To have 1/4 of the skills that they have...wow!

Speaking of talent, your cakes are amazing! I love, LOVE that frog of yours! Just wonderful!

I don't know this series of books but if you want to improve your sugarcraft skills I would have a look at Marion Frost's patchwork cutter books (and the cutters themselves of course). In the books Marion takes you through a good selection of different sugarcraft methods using her cutters as a basis

Miss Baritone that´s a really good recommandation . I really like her cutters as well, but I don´t know if there is any shop in the US who sells them. Maybe Nicholas Lodge has some. He also has written some good books (International Sugarcraft School, 2 volumes) and some together with Margeret Ford from Cel Cakes. Carol Decon books are also nice with easy to do cakes.

@Tripletmom: thank you very much. The "frog" just ran into my mind one night and since than he is one of my "logos".

I jumped onto the net and started looking for Marion Frost and patchwork cutters. They open up a whole new way of doing cakes! As Tuggy stated they are difficult to find however I did come across some, what appear to me, pretty good UK sites that did carry the info. There are some suppliers here in North America so I will try them first however for her books I believe I will have to buy them directly from the UK.

Thanks to all who responded! I really enjoy looking at cakes from outside North America, they are just so different. I know buttercream is the favoured medium here however sugar paste is gaining popularity and with it comes a whole new way of decorating. I love it!

If you have to buy direct from the uk I would recommend this site http://newlook.design-a-cake.co.uk/

The store is not far from my home, I've always had good service from them and I know they do ship abroad.

It's also worth trying ebay for the patchwork cutters and books.

Over here we tend to decorate mostly in sugarpaste and royal icing. We do very little with buttercream but I've picked up some good tips since joining this site