Step into Spring

摘要

This issue we wanted to step into spring with sweet innovation: savvy techniques and a fresh perspective on how to make the most of our sugar skills. Nothing shouts spring more than pretty blooms and Easter eggs, so we have master classes from industry eggs'perts on how to create sublime floral, luxury chocolate, and painted cookie decorations at home. Follow our step-by-step tutorials and you'll be amazed at the outcome; be prepared to unleash your inner patissier and take your cake decorating to a pro level! We all naturally look for the new at this time of year, so check out our shopping page for product inspiration and our recipes to rekindle your love of Bundt cake! One thing I am doing for myself, inspired by our mindfulness column as well as our creative cake world, is the sketchbook project from the Brooklyn Art Library. Cake decorating is a craft that embraces traditional art techniques, so I am hoping my sketchbook practice will help build confidence in my cake design, but I'm also enjoying the process—although I'll admit that a blank page is just as scary as a freshly covered cake. When committing our ideas to paper or fondant, there is always a risk that the end result may not come out as we expected but stepping out of our comfort zone is how we learn. So, we invite you to step out of your cake comfort zone this issue and try something new: geode sugar crystals, modeling with chocolate, making botanically correct sugar flowers, and the latest craze on social media—sugar-sheet technique! Personally, I can't wait to try Susie Jacobs' darling hand-painted cookies on page 16 and to pimp out store-bought chocolate eggs with Jorg Amsler on page 37.