Bridget Thibeault - Cupcake decorating lab: 52 techniques, recipes, and inspiring designs for your favorite sweet treats!

AT LUNA, MY BAKERY, WE BAKE ALL OF OUR CUPCAKES , frostings, and other pastries from scratch daily using the finest ingredients.

I believe in baking from scratch and eating quality, fresh ingredients and I hope this book will inspire you to do the same. However, I am also a busy mom and I understand that baking and decorating take time. This is one of the many reasons I love cupcakes. They are quick to make and much less intimidating to frost and decorate than a large cake. This book is bursting with straightforward, fun, and creative ways to decorate cupcakes that can be used for many occasions. Some of the designs are works of art and others are sweet and simple concepts.

Once you master the basics, this book will encourage you to try other professional techniques such as making sugar flowers, piping with royal icing, and creating a cupcake cake. There are time saving tips for working ahead on the little details and embellishments. And youll also get excellent ideas for presenting your cupcakes in contemporary ways by using objects like shot glasses, mason jars, and espresso cups. Combine the ideas from a few of these labs to create a fabulous dessert table. Have fun with this book and enjoy the cupcakes!

Some basic materials you will need for baking cupcakes and making the recipes include standardsize cupcake pans, standardsize cupcake liners, an ice cream scoop, a mixer, mixing bowls, spatulas, a whisk, dry measuring cups, a liquid measuring cup, measuring spoons, a mesh sifter, sheet trays, and a medium saucepan. The materials you will need to decorate the cupcakes include a 4" (10 cm) offset spatula; 14"18" (3646 cm) pastry bags; small craft scissors; pastry tips (Ateco #806 or #826, Ateco #804, #2 round, #3, Witon #401 or #79 or Ateco #81, Ateco #234, Wilton #1M or #2D, Ateco #21 or #30, Ateco #897, Ateco #070, Wilton or Ateco #18); gel or paste food coloring; toothpicks; small microwaveable bowls; edible decorations such as sprinkles, sanding sugar, edible pearls, and multi-colored nonpareils; a small parchment piping bag; small paintbrushes; parchment paper or wax paper; assorted sizes of mixing bowls; tweezers; a paring knife; and a cutting board.

The sugar flower and fondant supplies include a fondant rolling pin, round cookie cutters, fluted round cookie cutters, a pastry brush, colored fondant and gumpaste, a wheel pastry cutter or pizza cutter, stencils, luster or petal dust, 1"3" (2.57.6 cm) flower cutters, a foam pad, a ball tool, an egg carton or aluminum foil, a flower mold, a leaf veiner, and edible glue or egg white.

Additional supplies that are specific to labs include a surfboard cookie cutter, a small ice cream scoop, a fondue pot, skewers, oven-safe espresso cups, 2 food-safe squeeze bottles, sugar cubes, a rocks glass, a sleeveless dress cookie cutter, a jumbo cupcake pan and liners, sugar flowers, shot glasses, mini cupcake pans and liners, mason jars, push pop containers, a mini cake mold, a metal rack, a ladle, silicone cupcake molds or porcelain ramekins, a roasting pan, a silicone fondant mold, an impression mat, rubber stamps, 3" (7.6 cm) terra cotta pots, and a nonstick mini doughnut mold.