Book Review: Sweet Treats to Make, Decorate and Give

I received a post request yesterday from the lovely Alex to review some of the baking books i've started collecting up so Sweet Treats by Laura Tabor is the first i've chosen. 

So who is Laura Tabor?

Since an early age, Laura Tabor has loved making jewellery and cooking. After studying jewellery design at Central Saint Martins College, London, the baking was put to one side as she started her own successful jewellery label, selling beautiful handmade pieces to stores and boutiques across the globe. After finishing her latest collection of jewellery, entitled Sweet, Laura decided it was time to combine her two loves - and so began her edible jewellery journey.

This unique collection of sweet treats is packed with 35 decorating ideas for cakes, cookies and candies. In this book, jewellery designer Laura Tabor has combined her passions for jewellery and baking, producing a range of beautifully decorated edible gifts. 


The first chapter, 'Beautiful Treats for Girls', has chocolate cameos that look just like the real thing, marshmallow pearls and candy bangles. 'Seasonal Gifts' is packed with ideas for Christmas cookies, Faberge-inspired Easter eggs and a fondant Valentine's rose locket. Kids will love to make the rice paper flower pendants, jelly gems and liquorice friendship bracelets in 'Fun for Children'. 


The final chapter, 'Gentlemen Adorned', has recipes for candy cufflinks, vintage chocolate buttons and a candy monocle and moustache. Clear step-by-step instructions make this book perfect for novice bakers, while more experienced cooks will enjoy the challenge of creating something uniquely different.

I loved this book from chapter 1. All the basic equipment, recipes and techniques are covered in this chapter and they are wonderfully laid out and explained. It gives great advice and instructions form filling chocolate moulds to the dreaded boiling sugar! 

The recipe measurements in 'Sweet Treats' are in US cup format. Personally I don't mind this as I always think it's a lot easier that having to weight everything but it does mean you'll either need to purchase some cheapy measuring cups or convert everything to grams.

This book has a handy section covering gift wrapping ideas, i'm always swayed by pretty packaging and this is perfect for some inspiration on how to present anything to make for a beautiful gift to give.

The 'Sweet Treats' might look difficult and ornate at first, but the step-by-step instructions are a dream to follow making everything in the book achievable to make, even for a beginner.

There's some great ideas for DIY wedding favors like these pearl shell lollipops.

I recently purchased a cameo mold from eBay for a couple of pounds so I can't wait to try out some chocolate cameos for myself! I'm also going to use the sugar paste recipe in this book to make some to top cookies. 

I also love that this book has some more masculine style treats in it too.

The weakest part of this book is the 'Fun for Children' chapter, mainly because it just involves stringing together ready made sweets into necklaces. None the less, you can't fault that children wouldn't love to make a necklace with jelly cherries and strawberry laces!

Overall, I really love this book and its another I am happy to have in my collection. I will be trying out some of the ideas from the book and also use it to refer to for inspiration.

Tutorials ★★★★★

Practicality ★★★★★

Design & photography ★★★★★
Overall ★★★★★

You can purchase this book from Amazon priced at £9.74 HERE.