Bookends recommends baking books to celebrate the return of GBBO!

With the return of Great British Bake Off to our screens, it’s got us all in the mood for a little baking. Here are some of our top picks to help you on your baking journey:

Honey & Co. by Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer 

 

Our day is marked by what comes out of the pastry section, and there’s always something good on the way: sticky buns full of cherries and pistachios in the morning; a loaf of rich dough rolled with chocolate, hazelnuts and cinnamon that has been proving since dawn and comes out of the oven fresh for elevenses. Lunch is a crisp, crumbly shell of pastry filled with spiced lamb or burnt aubergine, and at teatime there are cheesecakes and fruit cakes, small cakes and massive cookies – so many cakes that it’s hard to choose one. (There’s no need to worry, whatever you choose will be great!) After dinner there might be poached peaches with roses or something more traditional, sweet and salty Knafe drenched in orange blossom syrup, or maybe just a small piece of fresh marzipan. There’s something sweet, something in the oven for everyone, all day long – welcome to Honey & Co.

 

Chapters include:
How to be good at baking: general notes; Store cupboard; Sweet & savoury breakfasts; Elevenses; Lunch; Teatime; Traditional desserts

 

Bake Yourself Happy by Steph Blackwell 

 

Put a smile on your face with 50 delicious bakes, each designed to bring you joy in both the making and the tasting.

 

Great British Bake-Off finalist, Steph Blackwell, discovered the healing power of baking while struggling with her mental health. Baking allowed her to release stress and anxiety and restore a sense of calm contentment. In Bake Yourself Happy she shares her favourite recipes and shows how every stage of the process will boost your mood and improve your wellbeing.

From foolproof bakes and weekday bread to decadent cakes and sweet tarts, Steph provides mouth-watering recipes guaranteed to make you (and your friends and family) smile.

 

Bread Therapy by Pauline Beaumont

 

When life gets challenging, simple pleasures and timeless traditions can help us manage. Bread Therapy is a love letter to the art of making real bread.

 

Making our own bread provides us with an unhurried, creative activity that is joyful, calming and productive – providing a much-needed antidote to life’s stresses and strains. From kneading dough, to taking a delicious-smelling freshly baked loaf out of a hot oven, bread-making can be a mindful experience and a therapeutic craft that can nurture and nourish us. As yeast transforms flour and water, so making bread can transform us and our lives.

 

As we seek ‘slow skills’ to free us from the digital world we are inhabiting more and more, and mindful activity to help us manage our mental wellbeing, so bread-making is experiencing a renaissance. This book will guide you through the art of bread making, with insight into the benefits of this ancient craft which will nourish mind and body. It celebrates bread making as a way of understanding ourselves better, learning important life lessons and making positive changes to our mental and physical wellbeing. It features eight simple bread recipes to get you started on your bread-making journey.

 

Pauline Beaumont is a passionate bread baker, mother of six and counsellor who believes fervently in the power of bread-making to aid our emotional and psychological wellbeing.

 

 

Fast Bakes by Mary Berry

 

 

Fast Cakes is the unmissable and definitive baking book from Mary Berry. Mary has incorporated her ‘all-in-one’ method of preparation into as many recipes as possible, so her recipes are faster to make than ever. Nearly 100 of the bakes take only 10 minutes to make and Mary has  included small bake variations for fruit cakes, which traditionally take a long time in the oven, so you can make one even when you are pushed for time.

 

There are scones, buns and biscuits that you can whip up for tea, traybakes and fruit loaves perfect for a school or village fete and of course foolproof cakes for every occasion from everyday recipes such as a Honey and Almond Cake to Mary’s First-Rate Chocolate Cake. Not forgetting recipes you can make with your kids from Happy Face Biscuits to Traffic Lights and Jammy Buns.

 

If you miss Mary’s wisdom and inspiration in The Great British Bake Off, or want a brand-new companion to Mary Berry’s Baking Bible, this is the cookbook for you, with over 150 easy recipes to make with confidence.

Straightforward recipes you can trust, Fast Cakes is a must-have for all busy bakers.

 

I’ll Try Anything Once by Prue Leith

‘A stunning tour de force and a remarkable achievement’ – Alison Weir

The eye-opening story of one woman’s incredible appetite for life: the memoirs of Prue Leith, judge of C4’s GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF and former judge of BBC2’s GREAT BRITISH MENU. Now fully revised and updated, including Prue falling in love and marrying again in her 70s.

 

Prue Leith describes herself as greedy in all senses of the word. Cook, caterer, restaurateur, food writer, journalist, novelist, businesswoman, teacher, television presenter, charity worker, lover, wife and mother, she has certainly been greedy for life. Prue came to London in the early 1960s and, not long afterwards, opened Leith’s Restaurant. By the mid-seventies she was a food columnist on the Daily Mail, had published several cookbooks and opened Leith’s School of Food and Wine.

 

But it wasn’t all work. Prue writes with honesty of her love life, her longing for children, the birth of her son, the adoption of her daughter and much else besides. In this fully revised and updated edition she tells of how she met, fell in love with and married John Playfair as well as her exciting new role as a judge on Great British Bake Off. Prue’s down-to-earth attitude to life and her remarkable energy are an inspiration to anyone.

 

 

Great British Bake Off by Linda Collister

Do you dream of being in the Bake Off final?

 

Perfect your baking skills with over 100 recipes from simple to showstopping bakes and cakes!

 

Bake like you’re in the tent – from the comfort of your own home.

 

Make brilliant bakes at home with the latest companion cookbook to The Great British Bake Off. This essential baking book of recipes from the Great British Bake Off team is appropriate for any level of expertise. Each chapter includes favourite classics with a twist, recipes with simple ingredients to create something adventurous, and showstoppers that will guarantee you’re crowned Star Baker in your own home.

 

This cookbook is the perfect excuse to start baking like The Great British Bake Off – at home.

Includes:
* Recipes from the Bakers of 2016, including the finalists
* Technical challenges from the show
* Easy to follow, step by step baking instructions
* Written to help you develop skills and bring out your creativity
* Beautiful photography to help you visualize your bake
* Clear advice on equipment, ingredients and quantities
* Recipes highlighted for ‘free-from’ diets and special ingredients