Buttercream is the lightest, fluffiest icing, simply made by beating together icing sugar and butter. When meringue is added, it is known as Swiss Style buttercream and is the icing choice for professional and home bakers too, because of its thick and luscious consistency - perfect for decorating cakes and cupcakes. The wholesome and delicious quality of buttercream is exemplified in these recipes that Carey Madden shares from her years of professional baking and decorating experience. The Getting Started section includes photos, descriptions and uses of decorating tools to her fail-safe recipes for cakes, cupcakes and icings. Then the 500 step-by-step colour photos for every recipe technique enhance her clear and easy-to-follow decorating concepts and techniques. There are 10 sumptuous 'foundation' cake and cupcake recipes for chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, carrot, pink velvet, chocolate courgette, gluten-free chocolate, gluten-free blueberry lavender, vegan spice and sugar-free banana cake. More than 35 decorating fundamentals and techniques provide all the skills needed to embark on the 70 fun and festive projects - from the elegant Chandelier Cake and Cupcakes to seasonal Snowflake Cake to the Circus Tent Finish Cake.

Create exquisite designs and bakery-quality results with Carey's easy-to-follow decorating techniques. Satiny smooth buttercream is the perfect medium for creating decorated cakes that taste as sublime as they look. Buttercream's popularity can be attributed to its simple sweetness, versatility, resiliency and ease of use. Working with buttercream may seem intimidating, but with Carey's expert and easy-to-understand advice, you will be creating and decorating stunning cakes in no time. This concise, comprehensive and easy-to-follow guide offers all the information you will need to get started - from invaluable instructions on decorating fundamentals and techniques to over 500 step-by-step colour photographs. With just a little time and practice you will soon develop the coordination and muscle memory necessary to decorate beautiful cakes. You can start by making some of the less complicated projects/cakes and then work your way up to more intricate projects once you start to feel confident about your decorating abilities. Soon you will be able to use Carey's techniques and advice to create your own unique and sensational designs. Full colour throughout and mouth-wateringly gorgeous, you will have 40 projects to choose from and there are even gluten-free and vegan options.