With the Great British Bake Off bake in
full swing, it seemed appropriate that my first post would be
reviewing past winner Jo Wheatley's fantastic book 'A Passion for
Baking'.
The book is divided into ten main
sections: Breakfast, Brunchm Family Baking, Afternoon Tea,
Celebration Cakes, Baking with Children, Breads, Biscuits and
Cookies, Pastry, Desserts. There are also some really useful pages
about baking equipment and at the end of the book, there is a double
page spread entitles Bits and Bobs. This is where Jo tells us how to
make jame, flavoured syrups and fruit smoothies among other things.
My favourite recipe is probably the
simple yet delicious one for a classic victoria sandwich. Jo advises
adding four whole eggs and one yolk and this seems to give the cake a
rich, creamy flavour. I am lucky to have hens in the garden, so eggs
are always available! A couple of other personal favourites are the
peanut butter cookies (picture below), blackberry and apple loaf cake
and bread and butter pudding.
This is a brilliant book that will
delight both beginners to more experienced bakers. It is full of
interesting recipes and is a real joy to use.
I would rate it as 5 out of 5 stars and
look forward to Jo's next book.
