Dessert Designer: Creations You Can Make and Eat! (Craft It Yourself) Paperback – February 1, 2013

Bought this for my neighbor's daughter, who loves to bake and be creative. She's already done a few cakes from this book with a copy she borrowed from the library. She's loved it so much and the cakes turned out so well that we thought she should have her own copy. We were right! She's still baking.

This book is full of all kinds of ideas to make sweet creations. Lots of great pictures and information on how-to.

Gave this to my 12 year old granddaughter, an inspiring pastry chef. She quickly bookmarked several things she wanted to try.

Dessert Designer by Dana Meachen Rau is a fun, simplified baking book that is easy on the kids. It is a young readers nonfiction book geared for children grades 3 - 9. Rau is also the author of Food Revolution Series, grades 6-9 (Going Organic; Going Vegetarian; and Going Vegan) and the What's Cooking Series of rebus books, grades K - 1 (Applesauce; Bread; Cake; Cookies; Ice Cream; and Pizza). Dessert Designer is also available in 4 smaller titles, broken down by chapter.Bright pictures with easy-to-execute designs, the recipes call for little actual baking and focus on the decorating. Each chapter works on a different subject: Cupcakes; Cookies; Candies; and Cakes. This book focuses on ready-made purchased commercial items or plain cupcakes and cookies that are decorated. Examples of recipes include themed cupcakes, Oreo-style cookie projects, and quick candy projects that require no stove-top cooking - just putting different candies together.While it is written for kids age 9 to 13, some of the projects should be left for the older kids, or even the adults, as they would be difficult to execute as shown in the book. My children are in that age group and have a working knowledge of basic baking techniques and would be able to pull it off (we do a lot of baking at home). But I think some children who have never picked up a pastry bag or spatula before might get frustrated.Little to worry about though, this book runs the gamut of all levels of skill so any kid can pick and choose a dessert project just for them. The ingredients lists for all 51 recipes are short and mainly contain pantry items. With its colorful pictures and graphics, this was an enjoyable read for the kids at our home.

Creative cooking and baking is all the rage right now. Just turn on any food-related network and even some other mainstream channels. You can even find cooking shows playing alongside sports events in restaurants. This book helps even the youngest bakers and designers get involved in the current trends.I love the gorgeous photography used to illustrate the book. I don't know that my own creations would ever look quite as good, but the pictures make you want to try your very best!For kids:The Decorator's Toolbox is a great page. The photograph looks much like a real kitchen drawer or box would and helps you to identify what all of the tools are. You can go shopping with your parents to get anything that is missing. Maybe you can even get your own drawer in the kitchen, or your own dessert designs plastic box in which you can store your things.The cupcake decorations appear to be the easiest and would require less adult supervision. The candies and the cakes are definitely much more complicated and will probably require some help. These creations would be perfect to make ahead of time for a party or other special event. Slumber parties just got more exciting, too, as you could plan to make these desserts with your friends! I am dying to try the rabbit cupcakes for Easter. I think I want to make the Polka Dot Presents for my next birthday cake.For adults:I would recommend getting your child her own set of decorating tools to keep in a special drawer, or even a plastic box of her very own in which to keep supplies. This would give her greater ownership over the projects.Making these projects together can add to great family bonding time and memories to cherish for years to come. Your child will want to have some independent time, too. Go through the book together to determine which ones she can do alone and which ones would require your help. Designate some to make ahead of time for parties and others she can make with her friends at parties.You could easily apply the skills that you learn from this book to making some of your own favorite creations.As with any cooking project that you are sharing with friends and family, be aware of everyone's food allergies and/or sensitivities prior to creating and presenting them. Some modifications could possibly be made for some of those.I received an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I can really appreciate the time and effort put forth in creating this lovely book, Unless you’re a pasty whiz, replicating any of these desserts is a formidable undertaking! Great for creating epic Pinterest fails!