Super Pops by Tamsin Aston with Judith Fertig

You've seen cake pops, now discover Super Pops. In this bright and fun book we are taken on a colourful journey into the world of gourmet cake. The book starts with an explanation of the kitchen equipment and ingredients needed to produce the many creations. I was pleased to find I had much of the equipment, and would be working with lots sugary, sparkly decorations that were new to me.

A page on 'showing off your pops' reminds me that these pops are miniature works off art; but these are not all style over substance. Ten base flavour recipes are described with many suggested variations - plenty of flavours to keep up the excitement. Ingredients are given in both metric and imperial measures, so there is no need to do your own conversions. Step-by-step guides lead us to secure the stick, coat the pop with chocolate and work on the decorations.

Over three quarters of the book is dedicated to the fantastic designs. Specific recipes accompanied by full-page beautiful pictures that tempt and inspire. Super Pops has been well written and well laid out. A handy 'pick a pop' page of photo thumbnails or the more traditional index will quickly help you find that design you were looking at.

As someone comfortable with baking, but new to cake pops, I am confident that following the simple steps I'll achieve great results. Buy this book!