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Ratings: ★★★★☆(4.3/5)
Genre: Baking, Cake Decorating, Wedding, Cookbook

Book Review:
Nadene Hurst and Julie Springall's ''Contemporary Wedding Cakes'' is a beautiful and practical guide for anyone involved in creating wedding cakes—whether as a professional decorator, a bride wanting a DIY approach, or a baker expanding their skills into this most significant of celebration cakes.

The book's strength is its coverage of multiple contemporary styles: royal-iced cakes (traditional elegance), sugarpaste cakes (smooth, modern finish), and American-style stacked cakes (the increasingly popular style where each tier sits directly on the one below). This variety ensures relevance across different wedding aesthetics.

What makes this book particularly valuable is its dual audience appeal. For brides and grooms, it provides inspiration and helps them understand what's possible, facilitating communication with decorators. For decorators, it offers professional-level designs and techniques from two experts in the field.

The authors draw on the best of contemporary design, from elaborate multi-tiered creations to simpler stacked cakes. This range means the book serves both elaborate formal weddings and more casual celebrations.

The step-by-step pictures are essential for success with complex techniques. Wedding cakes are high-stakes projects—they need to look perfect and survive transport and display. Clear instruction reduces the risk of failure.

For Sri Lankan cake decorators, this book offers exposure to international wedding cake trends. While local tastes may favor certain styles, understanding contemporary options allows decorators to offer clients a wider range. The techniques taught are transferable.

The full-color photography presumably showcases the cakes beautifully, providing both instruction and inspiration.

The main limitation is that wedding cake decorating requires practice and skill—a book alone won't make someone an expert. But as a guide and reference, it's excellent.

Overall, ''Contemporary Wedding Cakes'' is a beautiful and practical resource for anyone serious about wedding cake decoration. Its combination of inspiration and instruction, variety of styles, and expert authorship make it a valuable addition to any cake decorator's library. Highly recommended.