Here are the essentials from Buddy Valastro’s instant classic, the New York Times bestselling Baking with the Cake Boss, in a condensed, more affordable paperback package with a dynamic, new design. Here are extensive explanations and step-by-step photos that show how you can bake—and decorate—just like the Boss!

BAKE LIKE THE BOSS!

The Essential Cake Boss is a perfect slice of Buddy Valas­tro’s beloved bestseller Baking with the Cake Boss—a sweet collection of Buddy’s core recipes and techniques; the building blocks of Buddy’s show-stopping desserts; and many of his most popular, signature creations. You’ll learn to work with baking and decorating equip­ment, bake perfectly moist cupcakes and cakes, and work magical effects with frosting and fondant. Gor­geous photos let you follow Buddy as he shows how to create his artistic flourishes and decorations. The Essen­tial Cake Boss also features charts that let you mix and match cake flavor, frosting, and liqueur syrup to create your own trademark cakes.

A master course in baking, The Essential Cake Boss starts with a tour around the kitchen, including your pantry essentials and equipment, and the basic baking techniques at the foundation of any baker’s success. Start with simple yet mouthwatering cookies—butter, double chocolate chip, peanut butter, chocolate brownie clusters, and pignoli cookies—before piping bright, fan­ciful frosting flowers on top of perfectly moist cupcakes. Then you’ll be ready for Buddy’s beautiful cakes and to decorate with Buddy’s signature buttercream adorn­ments and flourishes. After that, you’ll be ready to work with fondant—which is easy when you follow Buddy’s tips and photos! And these cakes taste as good as they look: The Essential Cake Boss includes recipes for vanilla, chocolate, sponge, carrot, and red velvet cakes, as well as a delicious array of frostings, syrups, and fillings, so you can create your dream cake combo.

Bursting with tempting, tried-and-true recipes, handy tricks of the trade, and stories told in Buddy’s inimitable voice, The Essential Cake Boss is a rare treat— a fun, accessible guide to baking that inspires home bak­ers to new culinary heights, all in a gloriously designed, fully illustrated book worthy of the Cake Boss’s unique artistic vision. You’ll want to try them all!