Book review - Planet Cake

This is the new book published by Planet Cake of Sydney by its owner Paris Cutler.
I bought it while I was in London recently.



Publishing details :-
ISBN no 978 1741963182
Published in 2009 by Murdoch Books Australia
Price PST14.99

The book comes with many tips not found in other American or English publications.
For example Planet Cake uses ganache instead of buttercream and it teaches how to achieve that clean and sharp edges to cakes before covering with fondant. It also uses pasta machine to achieve that evenly rolled out thickness of fondant compared to using rolling pins.

It professes on the 3-day rule in order to create a wonderful and professional looking cakes. It means no rushing the cake and avoid last minute preparation. I kind of agree to the 3-day rule - the cake needs time to cool (day 1) before it gets cut and ganached with time allowed for it to set (day 2) and decoration is done on day 3.

There are many recipes provided in the book - vanilla cupcakes, chocolate mud cake, carrot cake, white chocolate mud cake, coconut cake and flourless orange and almond cake. Icing recipes include ganache (white and dark), rolled fondant icing and royal icing.

I tried the chocolate mud cake recipe last week and it was heavenly moist, though a bit crumbly (I will reduce the liquid or increase the flour next time) and it tasted fantastic with a good balance of coffee and chocolate flavour. If you do not fancy the darker taste of chocolate, I would suggest to reduce the amount of coffee granules and use semi-sweet chocolates instead. I would also recommend reducing the sugar content if semi-sweet chocolate is used or if the amount of coffee is reduced. I had used exactly the amount stated in the book and find the cake a tad sweet above the dark chocolatie taste.

I covered the cake with ganache as suggested and this is when ganache is so helpful. The crumbly bits sort of blend in with the ganache that I ended up having a rather smooth surface in the end. It was easy to cover with fondant once the ganache has set. Another piece of cake that I baked (remember the 5 pieces of cakes baked last tuesday?) was ganached by my daughter for her friend and she did it without any problem. Definitely a keeper for future chocolate mud cakes.

Planet Cake is famous for its big bows and sharp-edged wonky cakes.
As this was a 'beginner's guide to decorating incredible cakes' there was no subject on the wonky cakes. The cakes include the famous handbag and domed cupcakes (as shown on the front cover), cupcakes with faces, honeybees, monster, pirates and cakes in the shape of a briefcase, record player, ice cream, flip flop, rocket, boot, aeroplane, BBQ cakes and many more.

Ratings (1 to 5 ; 1 for not recommended and 5 die die must buy)
Illustration, cake designs & decoration ideas - 4
User-friendliness : 4
Utensils used : 3 (because I already have a pasta maker )
Tips provided : 5 (must read all instructions and no shortcuts)
Any complain : just one - the book's pages were threaded which is good BUT the book cover was glued to the first and last page. I have only opened it <10 times since I bought it 3 weeks ago that half of the back cover is coming off the glue. I will have to secure the cover with cellotape I guess.
Overall : 4 (and the book will NOT leave my bookshelf )

Here is another picture of some of the cakes tutored in the book

Wow, good review and it seems like a helpful book to have. So, another one to add to my wishlist.

Tks for the in-depth review, najat. let me know the outcome if you try the white choc mud cake. Definitely on my list, so is their course

Tracey, Planet Cake has courses at 3 diferent places and at different dates. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
I have checked the dates and am thinking of the same too ..
Top of my list is their sharp-edged wonky cakes.

Teramat menarik .....I have come to realise that the cake business ( not business business ..but the world of cakes) is no child's play .... physics, chemistry, (biology .. ), art, math, language, physical n emotinnal strength, relationships (esp), moolah .... everythinglah!!!

So much to learn .................

Errr ..tak nak auction ke buku tu .... ???

Auction??? Oh TIDAK ... sentimental value now that it has travelled back to Malaysia with me ...

that's interesting najat..
ya, i think a book review section is good..will kiv this book when i'm in london.should be helpful for a beginner like me!!
a good and honest review...thank you.

hi najat!

thanks for the great review... i will be visit planet cake @ sydney next week!! yea!!! this is a great idea... book reviews... you always think of such amazing stuffs to make things easy for us... thanks najat!

Are you having classes with Paris? if yes, have fun Weennee.
Mind the cold weather though ...

Hi Najat,

Thks for the indepth of the review. The book looks cool & amazing......

Hi Weenee,

Hey Erica here....Since you are going to Planet Cake, Maybe you can buy a few of this book and bring back to sell...He...he...I will be your 1st customers......

Interested?? Pls let me know.....coz am a sucker for cake decoration books!!!

Having browsed this book it is a must, must, must have .

Weenee

Buy the book from Myers. 35% off RRP books. I bought mine earlier and miss the sale price


Angela

hi najat, thank you for the in depth review. looking fwd to more book reviews What about your loot from London? do take pics and show... and let us... go green with envy hehhehe....
What about you mama min...?

Have bought the book when I was in Melbourne visiting my girls this
April. But have not tried out any of the recipes yet. After hearing what you said Najat, I will definitely try out the chocolate mud cake soon.
Thks for the info.

TQ ladies for your encouraging words.
I will try to do more book reviews in the coming weeks / months.
I am just a book lover/reader and have no insider connection to MPH or Borders or book publishers and neither am I trying to force you to buy the books I reviewed. I have been collecting cake decorating books for some time already and I have a lot to review if I do ALL of them

To Anne, what about my London loot? well ... they are all gone except for a few Lindy Smith handbag cookie cutters. I have friends (personal and MCDCians) who visited me and went home with some of them. That is why you do not see any postings of the extra stuff from London after I was back.
If you want to see the Lindy Smith cookie cutters maybe I'll bring them to our 1st Anniversary meet.

Prettywomen (are you one or in plural? ), chocolate is like another staple diet in my household. Any chocolate cakes with ganache especially is welcomed by my 3 girls. They are my official tasters.
The next time I'll try the recipe I will reduce the coffee content and use semi-sweet chocolate and see how different it taste, if any.