Sensational Sugar Animals
Frances McNaughton

Search Press
4 January 2012 (1 June 2012 US) / ISBN: 9781844487448
Non-Fiction/Sugarcraft
Amazon US - UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

How many people do you know who love animals and maybe have a particular favorite? This has to be most people, and when making celebration cakes getting the special beastie right is not easy·but here is a whole bookful of different creatures to craft.

Sixteen of them in fact, and all of them popular species. Choose from farm animals, pets and zoo favourites such as lion, rhino, elephant, gorilla and meerkat, wild bear, beaver and fox, Easter bunny and Halloween bat. Each project is handsomely illustrated with large format (this book has larger than usual sized pages) staged photos with lots of helpful captions. As you craft, you learn different techniques to get those tricky features like shiny eyes, fluffy fur, wrinkly hide, markings etc right, and then you can go on to make your own favorites. There are tips on getting basic shapes right, how to handle the various substances employed in sugarcrafting, and handy recipes for Mexican paste, royal icing and candy sticks for good strong legs. Find out what you need to have in stock to make all of these items (and be a general sugarcrafter) and how to use them. Beginners might find some of the projects a little daunting, but with their chunky shapes, they tend to be more forgiving than delicate flowers, so I can recommend this one for all levels. Good for getting the shapes right when working with polymer clays as well·this is a useful hands-on primer that should guarantee some professional-looking models.