Deceptive Desserts: A Lady's Guide to Baking Bad! Paperback – June 24, 2020

I discovered Christine about a year ago after reading an article praising her skills, and I started following her on Instagram. When she announced she was releasing a book I pre-ordered it right away! I just got the book today and I've been flipping through it all night!What an incredible work of art! The thing that makes Christine so dynamic is the careful thought she puts into developing these dishes and her (some might say overly) dramatic presentation. She truly does make every dish a work of art, and while she does stay very humble throughout the book and her many Instagram posts, her attention to detail and genius presentation is astounding.Don't be too intimidated though! She keeps a witty, easy going narrative throughout, and even admits in the introduction that she had never even baked a cake up until four years ago. She does start out with a few basic recipes for things like white cake, chocolate cake, buttercream frosting, etc. and uses those basic skills as building blocks for her more involved creations. She breaks each of the recipes down into basic steps, and includes helpful progress pictures, as well.This book is not for everyone. It's for people who *really* like to bake and have a particular (some might call it eccentric or zany) sense of humor. But for people like me, who LOVE baking and treat Halloween like other people treat Christmas, Christine McConnell is a godsend!

This is one of the funniest books I've picked up and that includes all genres. Christine McConnell is a phenomenal artist and absolutely fearless in her use of mediums: social history, photography, styling, sewing, sculpting, painting and baking which are all showcased to advantage here. I found myself like a child with their favorite picture book constantly pouring over the pages and soaking in every detail and that is just for the photos alone.The recipes are fantastically basic, which shows that a simple base can create an otherworldly experience and I found it made her creations less intimidating and that it isn't exotic ingredients that make the masterpiece but your imagination that determine the outcome. I also appreciate her advice, she did a tremendous amount of trouble shooting thru her own trial and error to help the reader utilize what works structurally so that all of her creations are basically 99% edible as opposed to most baking books which rely on a lot of plastic/wood/etc. inedible parts to create a bold cake/desert - this is where her artistic background really brings her forward as a structural engineer which is not especially taught in a professional baking course.And her images! Oh my! The clothes, which she makes herself within a couple of days for around $50 bucks or less shows a level of ingenuity and class that puts Vogue to shame. She is an extraordinary stylist with the clothes, the hair and her settings and backdrops - so much work clearly goes into to everything she does to a level of perfection that takes my breath away, particularly when you realize these are all selfies. She is the whole show and quite frankly with an imagination like hers I wonder when she sleeps?Love, love, love this book!

When the book arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by just how BIG the book itself is! Of course it is beautifully done with wonderful images & detailed instruction, but it also has actually useful advise. The day I received the book, I couldn't resist but make the superly clever banana bread loaves! Although I definitely didn't spend as much time on the details, they still turned out super fun & WOW did they taste freaking fantastic. Honestly the best (& EASIEST) banana bread recipe I've ever made. So moist and delicious.. Im actually baking a standard loaf with her recipe as we speak, because it was THAT delicious & may just be my new standard!An awesome aspect to Christine's recipes is that they are SO SIMPLE! No bogus/bizarre ingredients like oh so many other cookbooks. Have been a fan since I saw one of her first Reddit posts of her parents house spooked out with Jack Skelington for Halloween. Originally having high expectations for the book, a standing ovation is in order for Christine on this one. As an artist myself, she continues to impress and excite (lol) with her unique and clever creations. Wish her a wonderful future & hope to see her go far as she oh so clearly deserves!

I just received my cookbooks today and I am absolutely thrilled. I purchased two, one for myself and one as a gift. I've been following Christine's posts on Reddit showing her fabulous creations and her whimsical photography so when I found out she has a book out I definitely had to order it right away. She's a triple threat - A beautiful woman, a talented photographer and an incredible food artist.I absolutely love this book. It is way more than simply a cookbook. It is quite substantial with hundreds of wonderful photos of not just the fun dessert creations but also of the author Christine (in costumes that she sews herself) in hilarious poses. The cookbook is arranged seasonally, from Spring to Winter recipes. Many of the desserts probably do require that you already have a decent amount of decorating skill if you hope to achieve similar results as in the pictures (which I do not have) but I still think that it will be fun to attempt some of them to see how well I do. However, quite a few of them I definitely believe I can produce nice results with the detailed instructions and photos of each step. Although it is not even close to halloween yet I may just have to try making the "terror misu" with ladyfinger cookie decorations that look like real lady fingers. The kitten cannolis look absolutely adorable as well. But since I am a huge fan of all things pumpkin flavored I might have to make the pumpkin ice cream first, the recipe looks delish!

I think the price is too high. I was looking for projects that my grandkids and I could do. Perfect!

Happy to finally have a copy of my own :) so many great ideas and recipes

Beautiful art work and photography, the cake decorating is probably to technical for me, but I still love the book it's self ❤️

Bellissimo, ma non abbiamo ancora avuto tempo di provare le ricette per cui su esecuzione e risultati non so ancora dire. Unica “pecca” che qualcuno potrebbe notare é forse la qualità delle pagine che non rende adeguata giustizia alle immagini ma si tratta davvero di pignolerie e considerando il numero di ricette davvero cospicuo forse anche giustificato.

I love this book so much, even though I do not find the instructions for construction easy at all, everything in there is pretty awesome.

Infelizmente não mostra com clareza como fazer as incríveis esculturas. Porém as receitas estão todas lá. Livro para pessoas que tem nível avançado.