Desserts are always more fun when they have a surprise inside, like the fudge center of an ice cream pop or a cream filling inside of a cupcake. There are some desserts where you don’t expect to find a surprise center, however, and large cakes are some of them. That being said, there is no reason that you can’t transform something like a layer cake into a dessert that is even more delightful by adding a little something extra inside, and Peek-A-Boo Cakes: 28 Fun Cakes with a Surprise Inside is one book that will tell you how to do just that.
The cakes span a wide variety of fun ideas, all of which look just as delicious as they taste, from the jelly bean-filled pinata cake on the cover to the spotted leopard print cake inside. Each cake is built from homemade cake components, which means that the book is just as much about the flavor of the finished cakes as it is about the presentation of each dessert. That said, you will likely be able to recreate some of the same decorative touches using cake mixes if you are looking to cut down on your prep time a little bit, though homemade frostings, at the least, are a must for getting the best results. The instructions are clearly written and detailed, to ensure that your goodies come out looking just as delicious as the photos illustrating each recipe. The introduction to the book includes suggestions for basic tools and techniques that you might need to get started, but if you’ve baked a layer cake or two before, you should be fine to jump right in.
Many of the cakes are layer cakes, but there are plenty of loaf cake recipes, as well. It’s nice to have different cake size options, since that makes it easier to choose a recipe that fits any occasion you might need to bake for. The techniques used in the book are relatively easy to adapt to other recipes, so you’ll be able to create even more imaginative cakes of your own after baking your way through the recipes in the book.
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