Book Review - Sugar Flowers by Natalie Porter

Over the coming months, I’ll be reviewing the cake decorating books I own.  First up is my most recent purchase, Book One, Sugar Flowers by Natalie Porter of Immaculate Confections.  The book is available from her website along with the cutters used in the book and her own range of gel and dust cutters.  

The first thing I want to say about this book is how aesthetically pleasing it is.  The pages are clutter-free and colourful, the images clear and bright against a white background.  It’s a pleasure to read.

What’s in the Book?

The first chapter, entitled ‘The Basics’ covers just that.  It discusses mediums to use, colourings, tools, techniques and troubleshooting.

The next chapter is ‘Colour’.  Natalie’s love of colour is evident, not just in this chapter but throughout the book.  The chapter covers the colour wheel, mixing colours, colour relationships and colouring techniques.

The next 5 chapters show you how to make a selection of flowers, leaves and berries (including roses, peonies and filler flowers). Each section has detailed instructions on making and colouring with clear pictures and hints and tips.

(The photo shows a few I made)

The final 3 chapters contain projects.  Each project covers how to mix the colours, the quantity of each colour needed and the number of each flower, bud and leaf required

for the project.  It also covers exactly how to put them together on a cake.

This is the project I made from the book.

Final Thoughts

I have quite a bit of experience making sugar flowers but I still learnt a lot from this book, particularly from the colour chapter and the project chapters. Its not essential to have the cutters from Natalie's site but the products she sells make flower making a lot easier, particularly for the beginner. Natalie has a very down to earth and friendly approach to teaching.

I’d recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn how to make sugar flowers, from beginners up.  The instructions are very clear and easy to follow.