Sweet Treats

The lovely folk at CICO books recently sent me a copy of 'Sweet Treats to make, decorate and give' by Laura Tabor. Its full of amazing decorative ideas for cakes, biscuits and other confectionary.Its jewellery-themed, so most of the recipes are inspired by necklaces, cameos, pearls and so forth.The best bit though, I think, is the section 'Gentlemen adorned' aimed at sweet treats for the bloke in your life. I really meant to do this post before Valentine's Day, so that if you felt so inclined, you could run off and either buy this book for your other half, or make things from it for them.It gives a thorough introduction on how to make all sorts of icings, gold dusting techniques, filling chocolate moulds and all other necessary procedures.I wouldn't recommend it for a novice, though there is a 'fun for children' section with easier projects.

Sweet Treats to Make, Decorate and Give by Laura Tabor, photography by Stuart West, published by CICO Books

Laura Tabor actually studied jewellery design at Central St Martins, and created her own range of jewellery called 'Sweet'. A move to a home with an amazing kitchen led to her combining her jewellery skills with her love of food-what more could a girl want?!
As I mentioned before though, the more masculine ideas were what impressed me the most- for whilst men undoubtedly appreciate a delicious cupcake, I often get the impression that they like to stuff it all in their mouths before anyone catches them holding something pastel pink. Next Valentine's Day- or much more romantically, any regular day, surprise the boys with one of these ideas. Fathers/sons/brothers/milkmen etc will similarly love.

Monocle Cookies

Fondant stamps- for those as fond of stationery as I am!

Peanut butter moustache pops