Betty Crocker New Cake Decorating Cookbook

Not a recipe this time, but a book recommendation. The Betty Crocker New Cake Decorating Book was an impulse buy for me at Barnes and Noble when my daughter was a baby. Over the past 11 years it's been one of my most consulted volumes. I love the fact that you don't need special pans or icing pipers to make these cakes. Most of the decorations are made with common cookies and candies. I use this book at almost every one of my kids' birthdays and on numerous other occasions. I haven't made a lot of the recipes; the mix cakes work fine for these. Follow the recommendations about freezing the cake before you cut it and using thin icing on the cut edges to prevent crumbs. You'll be amazed and impress a lot of people.

Some cakes I have made:

Fish cake

Monkey cake

Bunny cake

I've also done pandas, snowmen, fire trucks, school busses, cat, rainbow, dinosaur, sailboat, Christmas tree, rocket ship and skate! Have Fun!