Take your baking skills to the next level with Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes, an incredible collection of cakes and cupcakes with simple decorating techniques. Lindsay Conchar of the popular baking blog Life, Love & Sugar has selected 60 recipes that will have your friends and family saying wow twice: the first time when they see how beautiful the cake is, the second time when they take a bite! With easy decorating tricks and top-notch recipes, everyday home bakers can make desserts that stand out in a crowd without slaving in the kitchen. Lindsay devotes a chapter to step-by-step decorating tutorials that readers can apply to any cake in the book, such as how to use a spatula to ice a perfectly smooth cake, or pipe pretty designs with frosting. Then readers have a huge variety of out-of-this-world cake recipes to choose from, including Peach Crumble Cheesecake, German Chocolate Cupcakes, a single-layer Blueberry Coconut Cake, Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Cake (no ice-cream machine required!) and holiday treats like Maple Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcakes. Divided by type of cake, readers can easily find the type of cake they'd like. The longest chapter features 16 stunning layer cakes like the Bourbon Spice Toffee Layer Cake and Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake. With Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes, even beginner bakers can make show-stopping cakes with ease for an occasion or every day.