Ok so I'm now having a few technical difficulities with the pictures in this post *grumble*. I'll fix it later!
As series 3 of The Great British Bake Off (TGBBO) started this week, the recipe book that accompanied series 2 of the show seemed like the perfect choice for this week’s review. So this week we have Linda Collister’s The Great British Bake Off, How to Bake the Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets.Wow what a mouthful!
As series 3 of The Great British Bake Off (TGBBO) started this week, the recipe book that accompanied series 2 of the show seemed like the perfect choice for this week’s review. So this week we have Linda Collister’s The Great British Bake Off, How to Bake the Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets.Wow what a mouthful!
Available from: Amazon.co.uk
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| Nice clear layout and the top tips are well intergrated |
So what do I like about it?
Well for starters the range of recipes is amazing; every chapter starts with an “easy introduction” recipe. For example the cake chapter starts with a Victoria Sponge, bread starts with a simple white loaf and so on. The recipes then go on to include the “technical challenges” from the show, these are Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry’s own recipes which are aimed at the more experienced baker. There are also the “Best of the Bake Off” recipes, these were invented by the contestants of the show and finally there are lots of normal recipes. These normal recipes also feature little icons which indicate if it's a good recipe for children to try, or good for celebrations etc. Basically no matter what you want to make you’ll find it in here or something pretty close to it. And as an added bonus there is a secret code hidden in the book which gives you access to the recipes cooked in the series finale.
Well for starters the range of recipes is amazing; every chapter starts with an “easy introduction” recipe. For example the cake chapter starts with a Victoria Sponge, bread starts with a simple white loaf and so on. The recipes then go on to include the “technical challenges” from the show, these are Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry’s own recipes which are aimed at the more experienced baker. There are also the “Best of the Bake Off” recipes, these were invented by the contestants of the show and finally there are lots of normal recipes. These normal recipes also feature little icons which indicate if it's a good recipe for children to try, or good for celebrations etc. Basically no matter what you want to make you’ll find it in here or something pretty close to it. And as an added bonus there is a secret code hidden in the book which gives you access to the recipes cooked in the series finale.
The chapters are really well organised and are they are all divided by type (cakes, bread, savoury pastry etc.), the general layout is fantastic, quite a lot of the recipes are accompanied by good clear photographs and everything is laid out in a clear manner. The layout really comes into its own when you consider the technical challenge recipes and the introduction recipes though; these pages feature good clear images of every step of the recipe with extremely detailed instructions. This layout makes these recipes a lot less daunting for the inexperienced.
In addition to all of this the start of each chapter features several pages of advice on how to avoid common pitfalls, what sort of equipment you need and just general good advice. And scattered throughout the book are lots of tips (including many from Paul and Mary) and tricks to make your baking easier and ensure success.
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| Layout used for the introduction and technical challenge recipes |
And what don’t I like?
To be honest, nothing. I really love this book and can’t find any real faults with it. The layout is splendid, the photography is superb and it’s full of excellent recipes for every skill level. Everything is well written and there are lots of handy hints and advice scattered throughout the book. I suppose some readers might find the photographs of the contestants a little annoying, but since this book features their own recipes and is designed to accompany the TV series I think it makes perfect sense to have picture of the contestants!
To be honest, nothing. I really love this book and can’t find any real faults with it. The layout is splendid, the photography is superb and it’s full of excellent recipes for every skill level. Everything is well written and there are lots of handy hints and advice scattered throughout the book. I suppose some readers might find the photographs of the contestants a little annoying, but since this book features their own recipes and is designed to accompany the TV series I think it makes perfect sense to have picture of the contestants!
So final rating? 5/5
This book is fantastic, it’s full of challenging recipes for the experienced baker and easy ones for beginners. There is so much practical advice in here I think success is pretty much guaranteed with every recipe no matter what your personal skill level! I really feel that this is one of the best recipe books available at the moment and is perfect to give someone if they are just getting into baking. Well worth the money! Based on how good this book is I am looking forward to getting the series 3 book!
This book is fantastic, it’s full of challenging recipes for the experienced baker and easy ones for beginners. There is so much practical advice in here I think success is pretty much guaranteed with every recipe no matter what your personal skill level! I really feel that this is one of the best recipe books available at the moment and is perfect to give someone if they are just getting into baking. Well worth the money! Based on how good this book is I am looking forward to getting the series 3 book!
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