Beauty.

Elegance.

Style.

Amy Atlas, the creator of these gorgeous sweet tables, is releasing her first book, Sweet Designs, today. I think it’s easy to see from these photos, just a tiny taste from the book, her work is nothing short of art. Not only is it pretty to look at, it’s chock full of party theme ideas, 100 recipes and over 75 DIY crafts.

I love that she shares tips not only on how to make everything on each table, sweet or otherwise, she shares invaluable tips on how to display items so that your table looks more attractive, so if you’re designing a party Amy hasn’t already shown in her book, you can take that information and use it to design your own. I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried designing a dessert table, and it’s harder than it may seem. Amy has a definite talent for it, and shares all her secrets in her book. (Yay!). She even breaks down where everything is from and shares all her favorite shopping haunts. Sweet Designs is literally a goldmine of information in every way.

If you haven’t found Amy on the web yet, her site is another must-see. I’ve been an admirer of hers for quite some time and I’m pretty sure you’ll fall in love when you head over there too.

And…. I’m so happy to be able to share with one of you, a copy of her book in a giveaway (details below), generously provided by Amy! If you simply can’t wait to find out if you’re the lucky winner and want to go ahead and buy her book now, you can find it here.

A few other bloggers and I are also making desserts from Sweet Designs and each sharing a copy of the book; you can find more of the sweet buzz here:

• Bake At 350 – Hazelnut Truffles
• The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle –  Amy Atlas Book Giveaway
• TidyMom – Honey Panna Cotta
• Two Peas and Their Pod – Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Sweetapolita – Pink Eclairs
• i am baker – Chocolate Cupcakes {Amy Atlas Giveaway}
• My Baking Addiction – Banana Whoopie Pies
• Bakingdom –Mini Strawberry Trifles

Chocolate Beehive Cupcakes

Making these Chocolate Beehive Cupcakes from the Sweet Designs, Honey I love you, chapter, only made me fall in love with Amy’s work even more. The meringue on these cupcakes was to die for… Light, fluffy, luscious! Just a touch of honey sweetness paired with the chocolate… Oh my sweet goodness!

The best part about making them was using my creme brûlée torch to caramelize the meringue (fun!).

And my kitchen, it smelled like delicious marshmallows toasted over a camp fire.

I piped the meringue using a #12 tip and probably should have made them a little less pyramid-like, and more rounded, like the bee-hives in Amy’s book, but didn’t notice until I had already blow torched them.

Since I already had leftover bees from this post here, I added them to the cupcakes. Amy has the most adorable marzipan ones in her book if you’d like to try them too.

There are so many bee-autiful ideas in this chapter, I can’t even bee-gin (sorry), to share it all with you, so on to the giveaway… Hopefully you win a copy so you can see all the gorgeousness for yourself!

Sweet Designs {Giveaway}!

This contest is open to U.S. and Canadian residents, and the winner will be chosen randomly at www.random.org. The contest closes at 7pm on Tuesday, May 1st, 2012.

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How to Enter

It’s easy!

Two possible ways of winning:

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Winner!

Congratulations to Cheryl, comment #619, for winning a copy of Amy Atlas’ new book, Sweet Designs! I’ll be in touch regarding how to get you your prize!

Thanks to everyone for entering and for your lovely comments!

xo,

Marian