Botanical Baking: Contemporary Baking and Cake Decorating with Edible Flowers and Herbs

Sear’s food styling background is apparent in this beautiful title featuring baked goods adorned with edible flowers and herbs. Stripping away the intimidation factor of creating such decorations, Sear guides readers with inviting, clear instructions through cakes, cookies, and candy that highlight botanicals such as rose petals, cornflowers, lemon verbena, and lavender. Introductory information on pressing and storing flowers and leaves, drying flowers, and baking basics gets home bakers up and running. Glorious creations are picture-perfect in Instagram-worthy selections such as fluffy Meringue Lollies, each monochromatically decorated; a three-layer Orange and Almond “Touch of Frosting” Cake showing home bakers that less cream cheese frosting is often more; and Dried Flowers Chocolate Bark, where hand-cracked shards of white chocolate showcase dried flowers in purple and yellow hues. Readers may do a double take at the Pressed Flower Faux Frames that look like wall art work but are a chocolate sponge framed in sugar paste. A Floral Krispie Cake Topper brings the cereal to new levels and is an ideal upgrade to candles. Templates for butterflies, letters, and numbers close the volume. Home bakers looking to up their decorating game will want to check out this eye-catching cookbook. [em](July) [/em]