Books with beautifully decorated cakes are easy to find all of a sudden, from ones aimed at home cooks who don't know an icing spatula from a spackling spreader, to those with photos that elicit oohs, aahs, and the sure feeling that you'll never be able to duplicate it at home. "Cake Art" (Lebhar-Friedman, $29.95), from the Culinary Institute of America, falls somewhere in between. As with other institute books, this one takes an instructional approach, starting with basics like making fillings, icings and meringues, and going on to gum paste bows and fondant decorations.

Cake projects are a mix of cupcakes for all ages, children's birthday cakes and wedding cakes and others for adult celebrations. The book is nicely organized, with instructions for specialized techniques in chapters just before the projects that require them. It's a handy reference for someone who wants to learn the basics of cake decorating and for those who want to take their cakes to a more professional level.

Ideas for centerpiece after walking down the aisle

Chances are you won't be whipping up the creations in "Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes" by Martha Stewart and Wendy Kromer (Clarkson Potter, $60) at home. Instead, the book is more likely to be used as a reference by engaged couples and wedding planners, a wish book to show to caterers. Starting with choosing a cake that reflects the season and your wedding's theme, the book walks couples through flavors, presentations and contracts.

Kromer, who creates sweet edibles for the magazine Martha Stewart Weddings, has pulled together cakes that range from stunning to whimsical, as girly as the pink madeleine cake, wrapped in ribbons and bows, and as classic as the Wedgwood cake, a pale-blue tiered concoction that looks like edible Jasperware. With more than 100 color photos of cakes and cupcake towers, there's plenty of inspiration to be found. If you're so inclined, recipes for cakes and icings are provided, along with decorating techniques and suggestions for transporting cakes. Some of the cakes come with complete how-tos, like the Seven-Tier Coconut Cake for 360; many don't. Want a preview? Check out "Martha Stewart's the Art of Wedding Cakes" at 9 p.m. Feb. 26 on the Style Network.

Create sweet mornings with pastries, muffins

Carole Walter is known for her thorough dessert cookbooks, and her latest, "Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More" (Clarkson Potter, $35), follows in that vein. Walter is a cooking instructor and fills the book with helpful information, from how easy a recipe is to prepare, to how to store each creation. Chapter overviews give the inside skinny on topics like making prettier muffins (use a No. 16 ice cream scoop) and how to prevent pastries from unrolling during baking (place them seam-side down).

Recipes go beyond the basics; rather than a plain blueberry muffin, available in so many cookbooks, Walter offers a blueberry corn muffin and a blueberry buttermilk with streusel topping. From cinnamon buns to pain au chocolate and bear claws, there's plenty here to sweeten mornings.