Favorite Cake Books You Need to Bake & Decorate Amazing Cakes

These favorite cake books will change the way you bake and decorate cakes. From basic cake baking tips to advanced cake decorating, you’ll be making amazing cakes in no time.

I am an avid reader. You could call me obsessed with reading. I’ll read almost anything especially if it involves food…particularly cake.

I have quite a collection of cake books, both recipes and for decorating and I thought I’d share with you some of my favorites just in case you’re as crazy about books as I am and in the hopes that you will enjoy them as much as I have.

Ok, let’s get started. Note that these books really aren’t in any particular order of importance. I love them all. I tried to group all of the baking books first and then the cake decorating books.

I also want to say that I, of course, have not tried all the recipes or tutorials in these books. There are simply too many to test out.

You can click on the red link below each picture to see the book on Amazon.

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The Perfect Cake by America’s Test Kitchen:

The Perfect Cake by America’s Test Kitchen

I LOVE this book. There are a lot of cake recipes here…good solid classic cake recipes.

Milk Bar’s All About Cake by Christina Tosi:

Milk Bar’s All About Cake by Christina Tosi

Really out of the box here, but so interesting to read. I love her ideas. They’re pretty involved and different, but she has a big following, so she’s doing something right.

I’m Just Here for More Food by Alton Brown:

I’m Just Here for More Food by Alton Brown

This one goes more into the science of baking and leave it to Alton Brown to make learning the science behind baking, fun and easy to understand.

Rose’s Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum:

Rose’s Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Rose Levy Beranbaum is the queen of cakes and this book has some amazing recipes in it. I find her cakes very light and delicate.

The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum:

The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Another one from Rose Levy Beranbaum and this one is super detailed and really goes into the science and method behind cake baking. She talks about the formulas behind putting cake recipes together, so it really helps in understanding how all the ingredients and ratios fit together. Oh, and she is also the queen of the reverse creaming method and you can hear the story behind it.

The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg:

The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg

This book is amazing. It’s one of my favorites. It isn’t specifically for baking cakes though, it’s about how different flavors work together. You can use it for cooking or baking, but it really goes into how flavors meld together and how things you’d think wouldn’t go together, actually do.

This book is more of an index type book. It will list a flavor and then under it will list all the other flavors and combos that go with it and why.

I love this book so much that I bought it twice. Once for myself and once for my son who LOVES to cook and experiment with different flavors.

Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes: Extraordinary Recipes and Easy Decorating Techniques by Lindsay Conchar:

Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes: Extraordinary Recipes and Easy Decorating Techniques by Lindsay Conchar

This book is from another baking blogger and I really like it. The recipes don’t call for any weird ingredients and there’s a good variety of flavors…and the photos are gorgeous. There are also some basic cake decorating tutorials in here as well.

The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn:

The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn

Anne Byrn really is the queen of the doctored cake mix and if you’re a fan of using cake mixes as the base for your cake recipes, then this is THE book for you. There are TONS of cake recipes in this book. You’ll really get a lot of flavor combination ideas as well. This is the original cake mix doctor book and there are many more to choose from.

Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor by Anne Byrn:

Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor by Anne Byrn

This is another one that I really like from Anne Byrn, but this one is all about cupcakes….cake mix doctored cupcakes. Again, she’s got lot’s of ideas here.

How Baking Works by Paula Figoni:

How Baking Works by Paula Figoni

This one is not for the faint of heart…it’s for the serious baker who wants to know all the ins and outs and every bit of science behind baking. It’s not just about cake either.

This is essentially a text book and it has SO much information in it that it’s gonna take some time. It’s not a recipe book really, it’s a book that teaches you how ingredients work together as well as mixing and heating ingredients.

You’ll feel really smart after reading this one…I still haven’t read all of it. It’s good to take it in sections and really absorb it.

Baking with the Cake Boss by Buddy Valastro:

Baking with the Cake Boss by Buddy Valastro

I’m sure you know who the Cake Boss is. This book goes into the basics of baking. It includes more than just cake recipes though, as he does have some basic cake decorating tutorials in here as well.

100 Buttercream Flowers by Valeri Valeriano & Christina Ong:

100 Buttercream Flowers by Valeri Valeriano & Christina Ong

This book has TONS of buttercream flowers (well I guess 100 of them to be exact) that you can make and instructions on how to do them.

Chic & Unique Celebration Cakes by Zoe Clark:

Chic & Unique Celebration Cakes by Zoe Clark

There are cakes in here for all types of celebrations. Zoe Clark is the queen of lace cake design, but she has other tutorials in this book as well, mostly fondant designs. She does have other books available as well.

The Contemporary Cake Decorating Bible by Lindy Smith:

The Contemporary Cake Decorating Bible by Lindy Smith

This book has some really cute cake tutorials in it…lots of fondant designs. Lots of techniques in here that you can build off of.

The Wilton School Decorating Cakes Book:

The Wilton School Decorating Cakes Book

This is a good foundational cake decorating book. There is a lot of instruction in here on buttercream piping and they’ve also got some really cute cake tutorials…mostly buttercream.

Great Cake Decorating by Erin Gardner:

Great Cake Decorating by Erin Gardner

Lots of really cute fondant cake tutorials in this book. Use them to jump start your cake design ideas.

The Contemporary Buttercream Bible by Valeri Valeriano & Christina Ong:

The Contemporary Buttercream Bible by Valeri Valeriano & Christina Ong

This book is all about buttercream. You’re not going to get tons of fondant cake tutorials in this one. Nope…this book teaches you how to do some amazing techniques with buttercream.

The Well-Decorated Cake or Professional Cake Decorating both by Toba Garrett:

The Well-Decorated Cake by Toba Garrett

Professional Cake Decorating by Toba Garrett

Toba is a legend in the cake decorating world. In these two books, she goes over her cake spackle technique and lots of cake decorating fundamentals. Her style is more of a classic look, but there are still some beautiful designs in these books.

Confetti Cakes by Elisa Strauss:

Confetti Cakes by Elisa Strauss

Lots of really cute cake tutorials in this one…mostly fondant designs. She goes into some basics as well. From decorated cookies to purse cakes and baseball cap cakes, this book has a wide variety of tutorials.

Sensational Sculpted Cakes by Rose Macefield:

Sensational Sculpted Cakes by Rose Macefield

I really like this book because it goes into the basics of how to do sculpted cakes. Not insanely crazy sculpted cakes like you’d be making for a cake show, but normal sculpted cakes you’d actually get a client request for like tennis shoe cakes, guitar cakes, monster cakes, basket cakes etc.

This book will help you learn the basics of sculpted cakes and you can build off the tutorials in here to make other designs.

Cool Layer Cakes by Cheri Olofson:

Cool Layer Cakes by Cheri Olofson

I actually got this book as a gift and it really has a lot of fun cake decorating tutorials in it. Many of them are fondant, but not all of them. There are some fun techniques in here like how to make checkerboard cakes, zebra cakes, mini cakes, ruffle cakes, animal cupcakes and so on.

Ok that was a ton of books, I know. I actually have more than this at home and I’m sure I will continue to add to the collection.

I hope you have fun with these and I hope you find them useful in your cake baking and cake decorating journey!

Other Posts You Might Like:

• 25 Insanely Useful Tips for Baking Cakes
• 12 Must Have Tools to Start Baking Amazing Cakes
• Inexpensive Supplies You Need to Start Decorating Cakes

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