100 Cakes and Bakes by Mary Berry – review
This is another in the series from My Kitchen Table, offering good-value volumes of easy-to-make recipes, and in the case of 100 Cakes and Bakes...
Afternoon Tea at Home by Will Torrent – review
I was expecting a great book from this well-respected chef, Will Torrent. I wasn’t expecting the volume to have that overwhelming feel-good factor. That comes...
Sprinkles by Jackie Alpers – review
Baking is, thank goodness, enjoying something of a revival. We are reconnecting with some old-fashioned culinary values – the kitchen filled with tempting aromas, a...
Chocolat by Eric Lanlard – yes, its chocolate – review
The world loves chocolate, and combine that with a dashing chef with a rich French accent and recipes for goods that have graced many a...
Macarons by Pierre Hermé – review
Pierre Hermé is the fourth generation of a family of bakers from Alsace in France. He has been working and learning his trade since he...
Celebrity Bake Book – Mary Berry – cookbook review
It’s a feel-good cookbook in every regard. It’s in support of The Ben Kinsella Trust, which was set up to raise awareness of knife crime...
The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook by Lindsay Landis – review
Surely we have all licked out the bowl after mum has made cookies. But let’s make it clear what we mean by a cookie. A...
Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts by Alice Medrich – review
It’s no surprise that I love cooking. I bake bread, make pies, curries, casseroles and roasts but, to tell the truth, I have never managed...
Marshmallow Madness by Shauna Sever – review
There is cooking. There is baking. And then there is culinary alchemy. There are several dishes that fall into that mysterious category. There is cinder...
The Golden Book of Desserts by Carla Bardi – review
As a kid I didn’t have The Golden Book of Desserts but I would sit next to the radiogram (yes, there were such things and...
Cake Decorating Skills by Tracey Mann – review
It’s just the time to start getting anxious about Christmas. All that shopping …and all that cooking and baking. It’s a special season, when we...
Whoopie Pies by Viola Goren – review
Food, like clothes, has fashions and trends. We have had cupcakes and macaroons and now it’s the era of the Whoopie Pie! The name is...
Big Ben, London Bus and Afternoon Tea at The Howard – restaurant review
(This hotel has now closed) Londoners love London. Tourists love London. It’s a city that is vibrant but with nooks of tranquillity, historic with a...
InterContinental for Afternoon Tea and Summer – review
London is acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It’s been a magnet for tourists for generations. Plenty of celebrated...
200 Mini Cakes and Bakes – cookbook review
There cannot be many who would not enjoy a luscious slice of cake. Cupcakes are popular even as replacements for wedding cakes, and macaroons seem...
Tuttons for Tea – restaurant review
Henry VIII dissolved all of England’s monastic properties in 1540, because he couldn’t get his way with the Catholic church and the ‘Bishop of Rome’...
The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches by Susan Russo – review
This book is fun. Sandwiches are not by nature a serious food group. We make them for picnics and parties. The bread keeps our fingers...
Tangerine Dream Café by Limpet Barron – review
This truly is a ‘Secret Garden’ and much less celebrated than Kew in West London, although Chelsea is London’s oldest botanic garden and a unique...
Macaron by Alison Thompson – review
They are becoming ubiquitous. Those colourful chubby discs are showing up in smart patisseries across the land. They have long been popular in France and...
The Golden Book of Baking by Rachel Lane – review
Here it is. The Golden Book of Baking. A chunky golden ingot of a book. A gleaming brick of a tome. Another metallic and gift-quality...