The Great British Bake Off: How to Bake: The Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets

by Love Productions, Mary Berry (Foreword), Paul Hollywood (Foreword)

Twelve new amateur bakers are ready to rise to the Great British Bake Off challenge. While they don their aprons, adjust to their new ovens, and get used to baking in a tent, this book takes you through the challenges from the series and shows you how to achieve baking perfection. Throughout the book, Mary and Paul are on hand with expert advice and practical tips to help you create perfect cakes, biscuits, breads, pastries, pies, and teatime treats every time. Each chapter begins with a specific baking skill, which, once mastered, allows you to tackle Mary and Paul's technical challenges, as seen on the show, with confidence. There are over 120 recipes in this book, including traditional British bakes and imaginative twists using classic ingredients, as well as the best contestant recipes from the series. There is plenty to challenge keen bakers here, from brandy snaps to elaborate pastries, pavlovas to iced celebration cakes, and with a sensuous and yet practical design and full-color, step-by-step photography, this really will become the baking book that you will turn to for years to come. Includes metric measures and conversion chart.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference, British Literature, Foodie

320 pages, Hardcover

First published August 4, 2011

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute bible. It is written in an easy-to-follow manner and gives you a good grounding in basic cooking techniques but also gives you the inspiration that you too can cook the things that were done on the Great British Bake-Off!
It doesn't just give you a list of ingredients and say "Make the pastry", it doesn't even say "Make the pastry as shown on page x..." which has you leafing through the book with floury hands and then trying to remember which page you started on! For each recipe that needs pastry, it will go through how you make it, from putting the ingredients into a bowl to having a beautiful cooked pastry shell, ready for whatever filling the recipe is all about.
Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood have included some challenges to have a go at and these too are accompanied by photographs at every step so that you know just what you are doing at each stage.
Throughout the book there are tips, either to make sure that your ingredients are ready for use (like mixing coconut milk before measuring it, since it separates on standing) or offering ideas of how you can modify the recipe (e.g. for a loaf "For a change, sprinkle the top of the glazed loaf with sesame seeds or porridge oats, even oatmeal."
Throughout the book are the "Best of the Bake-Off" recipes from the 2011 season on which this book is based, so if you fancy making anything you saw from Earl Grey Cupcakes to a Limoncello and White Chocolate Croquembouche then the recipes are here in the book with plenty of detail of how to do it.
I love this book.

[Beth E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of the bakes in this cookbook have appeared on the show more than once, so that makes it a great resource for fans of the show.

[Hazel Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found that this book is a little basic in places, what you get out of it depends on your compancy level and I would suuggest that if you are a regular baker then perhaps opt out of this purchase. Having said that the book is beautifully photographed which helps anyone who is trying to learn a new baking skill. There are some nice recipes in it but if you are a viewer of the program then dont expect everything you saw on screen to be contained within the pages (something that I was a little upset about) and on that note please dont expect some of the recipe to be from Mary Berry or Paul Hollywood, their input is in the foreward and some of the practical tips.

[Kimberley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m surprised people were saying oh I don’t have a lot of these ingredients at home normally. We should all have at least flour butter sugar and eggs. Things like buttermilk and almond meal and stuff like that I can understand, but saying bad things just because they don’t have the ingredients is silly.

I wish all the recipes had thoroughly detailed instructions, especially some of the pies and bread. Cakes are pretty standard but I really liked that the Victoria sponge was nicely detailed. Some recipes I wouldn’t touch coz it’s not my kind of thing but definitely a lot I will try.

[Rory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really for me. I don't want to revisit all the contestants. We saw all that on the show. I have given the book to charity and not saved even one recipe; but then I am vegan and can't be bothered to try and change the recipes.

People who love baking may like it.

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

For me this just won’t work but the recipes all looked amazing. I personally don’t like recipes that call for a lot of ingredients or things that I don’t typically already have.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

How fun to see the recipes that made the show famous and the enterprising bakers who showed their creativity and grit. Very nice compendium.

[Linda Mugiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy to follow instructions coupled with lively illustrations from contestants and judges lives.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the layout and the pictures and while I don't necessarily want to try all the recipes, there were a few that I'd like to give a go. (Chocolate Chilli <--- very British I suspect, we would label it chile here --- Cake).

[Rebecca tedder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've really enjoyed looking through this book, I am going to be trying out some recipes in time but this is the PERFECT book for a not so experienced baker.

It shows pictures and step by step pages (ideal for those times you wonder if your sponge mix REALLY DOES look to thick) and for new bakers, this is great.

It also demostrates a wide range of recipes and twists on classics that sound exciting and worth trying.

This is one of the better baking books I have come across in recent months and recommend it to first time bakers without a doubt.

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Free gift for subscribing to BBC Good Food magazine - well worth buying on it's own merits. If you enjoy baking then this book is a real treat. There are step-by-step guides to some of the technical challenges from this year's TV series (2011) and I am itching to try the chocolate roulade! Plenty of photos throughout and a wide range of recipes from the series. This book is a treasure trove of high quality baking recipes.

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a pretty good baking book :)
nice recipe varieties and really nicely displayed/set out.
as well as this, there's good tips within the recipes to avoid some things happening (like scrambling the eggs in lemon curd etc) which is good for amateurs like me!
Only thing is that I would have liked a photo for nearly every recipe - i get that sometimes they take up space, but they make it easier to bake something, and make the book more good-looking overall!

[Josephine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant for simple recipes to more impressive ones. The chocolate crackle cookies are really effective, as is the coffee and walnut battenburg (although wrapping the marzipan around it is a nightmare!)

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the show, I think you'll love this book. Great baking tips, beautiful pictures and wonderful recipes from the show. Attention Americans: this book will force you to measure ingredients using grams, but it's worth it for serious bakers.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of useful tips, glossy picyures, expert advice and most importantly yummy recipes! I Tried the pina colada macaroons at my husbands birthday party- they were a hit!

[Lili · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a good cake cookery book, plenty of choice, many simple recipes and some more intricate, delicious.

[زاهي رستم · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a good book, with perfect recipes, but most of the ingredient is hard to find in my country. Thats why I will never try any in my kitchen... and I like its tips and secrets.

[Hazey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Success every bake a delightful cook book with cakes for all occasions.

[Robin]

Only had recipes from Season 2, which I haven't seen. Glossy, uneven, and a bit scattered. I prefer the cookbooks that some of the individual contestants and judges have put out.