Mona's Cakes: A Book for Brides

Rating:
Summary: Luv the work entailed in the pics, but would love more text!
Review: Being a local gal and having heard SO many WONDERFUL things about Mona's cakes from brides and decorators alike, in addition to visiting her website to oogle over the creativity in ideas, I found there to be a few things missing with the book. The biggest thing I was looking for was some more text. Such as "how to buy" or "technique" or even things like tips for a bride to find a quality decorator in their area. The other thing I wished is that the book were larger in size so one could really look deep into the designs such as an 8x10. I will say, having seen TONS of wedding cakes here in the cities, these are some of the best REAL cakes I've seen. The cakes are realistically something one would see at a wedding, not the airbrushed for the purpose of the book only type of cake. Also, finding a decorator to create a cake that looks like these can be a challenge, even for the most simplest cake in the book. Many decorators do not take the time to get the cake looking as beautiful as they are to eat. We know this because we tried with one of her individual cake ideas!

Rating:
Summary: amazed
Review: I bought this book, because i'm a home baker who is trying to get a business going. So far the word of mouth has been great. I'm always trying to find new ideas, and I try to buy all the books I can on cakes. Well this one really amazed me. I found it hard to believe that this person is a professional. Her icing is all rough, her scale in decorations are wrong and her desings are, for lack of a better word...funky. I have to say that my cakes look more finished than hers, and I work from home. This book was amazing in that it opened my eyes and gave me hope to someday being a sought after cake designer.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I have been designing custom cakes for 12 years, and was excited about this book based on the cover shot. However, when it arrived I was sadly disappointed that the cover was not indicative of what was inside the book. I expected to find professional and "a finsihed, polished look" to the cakes (as most of us would expect to see in books!), but found many of the cakes to be lop-sided, TIN FOIL showing on the cakes (unfinished), and very unsmooth & 'pitted' icing - not at all what I would expect from a commercially published book! There were many idea's in there (I think around 55 cakes or so?), but the quality of workmanship was so poor that I'm sorry to say that I wouldn't recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Surprised
Review: I was very surprised to find that this was only Mona's first year of wedding cakes. I found her designs very refreshing. I liked this book a lot because most of the pictures were from actual weddings or shows. Since I am in the area, I think I'll have Mona do my wedding cake!