This is a beautiful book with filled wonderful ideas. However, the recipes are very bad. I am an experienced baker who attempted a few of cakes with along with a chef, whose history includes an honors degreee from the French Culinary Institute in NYC. We both agree - the recipes are just plain bad. The directions and instructions are not only vague, they assume you can get from point A to point D. If you want to make the cakes in this book, find the recipe elsewhere. I would actually like to know how the author made the cakes in the photographs, because she certainly did not rely on these recipes alone.