A sugar-coated feast for the eyes that provides endless inspiration for anyone who loves decorative baking and entertaining. Get your creative juices flowing and see how bakers and decorators around the world have creatively used fondant, buttercream, gum paste, sugar paste, royal icing, and piping and molded designs to create cookies, cupcakes, and cakes that are true works of art. See elegant cupcakes decorated with pearls and piping, colorful hand-painted cookies, tiered cakes with dimensional flowers, and much more. Discover unique cupcake decorations that use royal icing, edible markers, and fondant; wedding cakes adorned with gum paste accents and debossed designs; vibrant Christmas cookies; whimsical children's birthday cakes; specialty Easter cakes, and much more. Get great year-round ideas for dessert presentations and gift giving. Recipes for several types of frosting are included in the book, and an image directory identifies key materials and techniques for each photo. Among the amazing featured creations are: Cupcakes topped with sweet fondant flowers Fanciful characters and animals made from fondant and gum paste Cookies decorated with imaginative royal icing designs Lush buttercream roses atop cakes and cupcakes Hand-painted fondant accents Delicate chocolate motifs Cakes enrobed in decadent ganache Simple buttercream designs that dazzle This is the one book you'll turn to again and again for the best cupcake, cookie, and cake design ideas. Start exploring this delicious world today!These visual catalogs are both a practical, inspirational handbook and a coffee-table conversation piece. Like all of the books in our 1,000 series, these are not instructional books; rather, they are a visual showcase designed to provide endless inspiration.