Sue Lawrence's Book of Baking [Paperback]

This is not one of the popular books that shows up in the top sellers of the baking section (like Mary Berry or Nigella Lawson for example) and I just recently discovered it wanting to extend my baking book collection a bit ... and what a wonderful choice it was! I am SO pleased I bought it - even though it is far shorter than most of the "baking bibles" out there it is such a gem to have in your kitchen simply because everything works.

Sue Lawrence's book contains sweet and savoury recipes (about 30% are savoury ones), with precise and clear instructions making sure that they work for you. In fact, I am so impressed with it that this has become my new favourite after years of using the Leith's Baking Bible. Perhaps it just suits the individual needs of my oven so well, but I have never had a baking book so spot-on with the oven temperatures and baking times - not once have I had to adjust anything or leave it in for a little longer or cover it with foil to prevent the top burning.

Among the wonderful recipes I have tried were the asparagus and porcini mushroom parmesan tart (the only savoury one I have tried as most contain meat and I'm a vegetarian). That was incredibly tasty and well worth the price of the porcini mushrooms. In the sweet section, there's a chapter on tarts which includes a lovely lemon tart with a chocolate pastry - amazing! The lemon and poppy seed muffins were the most tangy and lemony I have ever eaten, having tried at least 5 other lemon - poppy seed recipes. And the date cake with fudge topping is simply awesome!! There is a wonderfully moist carrot cake and also a crumbly and light recipe for mince pie pastries which contains ground almonds, making it slightly different to ordinary mince pie pastry and so much tastier. I also recently made the very chocolatey brownies, which were wonderful, and they were the very first brownies I ever made which did not sink in the middle....always so disappointing when they rise beautifully in the oven but somehow always manage to sink just before you take them out! And if you're making the brownies, you might as well use them to make the brownie cheesecake, with luscious molten toffee poured over the brownies before covering with cream cheese mixture. Delicious :-) And although Sue says this cheesecake is incredibly rich, I had no problem consuming the whole cake in 2 days (with a bit of help from my partner). It may be rich, but you'll be coming back for more in no time, so best stored in the fridge where you can't see the temptation!

I am new to baking with yeast but have managed to bake wonderful Chelsea buns as well as Finish cardamom buns from Sue Lawrence's book as well. There's a wholemeal bread with walnuts that does not need any kneading but tastes great and a delicious rosemary and raisin loaf. Her recipe for ciabatta-type olive oil loaves is unbeatable and very close the traditional Italian bread, but is easy to knead by hand and you don't need a bread machine. I was very hesitant to try the olive oil loaf as all other bread books recommend doing this in a bread machine because the dough is so runny, but Sue's recipe works wonders by hand.

I have baked about one third of the recipes and all have without exception been wonderful and am so glad to have discovered this wonderful book. Among the recipes I have not yet tried are: New York cheesecake, mini pecan pies, sour cream and raisin pie, German apple cake, almond cake and passion cake with carrot and banana. I can't wait to try them all because the success I've had in the past with this book makes me want to bake everything from here. If you want easy to follow, foolproof and delicious recipes, this is one of those books. I really wish Sue would write another book of baking and give her readers more of her delectable recipes.

some of which are 'tweaked' versions of those collected on Sue's extensive travels!

Headline paperback version/2004

From the author of Le Creuset's French Baking, among others, we have a superb book of home baking, with something for everyone - ranging from traditional favourites such as 'Victoria Sponge Cake' and 'Shortbread' to, perhaps, the lesser well-known 'Duck Egg Pavlova with Cheesecake Cream' and 'Dukkah Bread' - with the odd Aga recipe thrown in for good measure!

Encouraged by the confidence-building statement from the introduction......

'...your cake might look rather more rustic than shop-bought, but that is the point; it is the intrinsic allure of home-made.
To use the old-fashioned term, it is hand-crafted - lovingly and happily..........'

.....this certainly applied to my completed version of the unlikely-sounding, but delicious 'Chocolate Coca-Cola Cake' - probably the moistest cake I have EVER achieved, so thank you Sue!

'Little Sticky Ginger Cakes' adorn the simple cover of this paperback book of 192 pages, split into main chapters:-

Breads
Savoury Pies, Pastries and Tarts
Sweet Pies, Pastries and Tarts
Traditional Cakes
Modern Cakes
Biscuits and Cookies
Brownies and Bars
Quick Bakes
Healthy Alternatives
Festive Baking

sandwiched between a 2-page introduction and an index.
Also included is a guide to ingredients and a useful glossary of British/American baking terms (cup measurements giving American volumes).

Each chapter has a double-page spread opening with relevant text on the left hand page and a picture on the other.

Each recipe has opening text (most often dedicated to the origin of the recipe and the reason why it has been included), the title, the number of servings, the list of ingredients and a clearly numbered method.
The book is packed with useful tips and variations which are quite comprehensive in places, e.g. 'Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie'.

A slight criticism - but not enough to drop an entire star, in my opinion, the amount of photography contained in this delightful book is a little on the light side, but it is easy to forgive as what is pictured is simply mouth-watering!
In addition Sue's enthusiastic writing style simply eggs one on!

Example of text opening -

'Rocky Road and Cheat's Florentines:-
Warning; this is one of the most moreish recipes in the book. I advise you not to make it at, say, 4pm, when blood sugar levels are down and you are desperate for a little something sweet with that cup of tea.
Because once you start nibbling, it is tricky to stop........'

And that is certainly no understatement!

A small taste of the other recipes contained within:-

A Classic Loaf
Aga Bread
Bread-Machine Loaves (inc. an adaptation of one of Nick Nairn's)
Haggis Bread
Chelsea Buns
Quiche Lorraine
Cornish Pasty (based on a traditional recipe from 'The Lizard Pasty Shop')
Anchovy Pirozhkis
Bakewell Tart
Linzertorte
Baked Alaska
Angel Cakes
Parkin
New York Cheesecake
Dundee Cake
Chocolate Surprise Cake (with a shock ingredient!)
Poppy-Seed and Lemon Muffins
Meringues
Parmesan Shortbread
Lemon Berry Damper
Fridge Brownies
A Perfect Crêpe
Banana Flapjacks
Pecan Tassies
Hedgehog Bars
Scones (inc. an Aga version)
Wheat-free Raisin Muffins
Mince Pies
Swedish Lucia Rolls or Saffron Cake

My particular favourites, to date, in the main part showing my very sweet tooth:-

Focaccia stuffed with Taleggio and Ham
Cullen Skink Bridies
Apple Pie (really chunky with lattice top)
Custard Creams
Chocolate-Crusted Lemon Tart (first published in Sue's 'Sunday Times' column)
Digger Biscuits
Lemon Fudge Cake
Hallowe'en Barm Brack
Bûche de Noël (enhanced with an optional drop or two of....Drambuie!)

and the aforementioned cover recipe - 'Little Sticky Ginger Cakes', with the most delicious ginger fudge icing decorated with ginger slivers.
In a word - 'unforgettable'!

Footnote:-
Like another reviewer, my paperback copy has suffered rather badly over the years and completely eased away from the spine, so if the budget can stretch, I would recommend the Hardcover version!

Attention all serious chocolate fiends, you simply must try Sue's utterly amazing fridge brownies.
Soo rich, soo moreish, sooo lucky my girlfriend cooks these all the time...you will never look back!