A while ago, the Hairy Bikers visited the Waterstone’s branch where I work, to sign copies of their latest cook book, ‘Big Book of Baking.’ Eager to attend the event, I went armed with my camera and a book ready for signing!
Here we are with the infamous pair!
The ‘Big Book of Baking’ is a book designed to compliment the TV series, ‘Hairy Bikers’ Bakeathon,’ in which the duo travelled around Europe, finding some of the best recipes from various European countries. The book reflects this, by being divided into sections for each country.
I recently had chance to try my first recipe from the book, and I chose to make Amsterdam Caramel Cookies. These are a butter biscuit that tastes similar to shortbread, with chunks of (home made!!) caramel in them. Although mine didn’t turn out looking quite like the picture, they tasted very good! Even my brother, who doesn’t like shortbread, was very impressed! The whole recipe was very straight forward and simple, and even making the caramel didn’t prove difficult which I thought it might.
My caramel cookies!
This was just the first in a long list of recipes that I want to try from this book, including;
- Belgian Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake
- Sachertorte
- George’s Fantastic Gingerbread
But the book also features several savoury recipes too, such as bread, pizza, scones and pasty slices.
This book is packed with loads of really unique recipes, which are unlike any others that you would find in a UK cookbook. It is a wonderful collection of European recipes, that many of us have probably never tried before. Illustrated with wonderful, full page photos and straight forward instructions, this book is a lovely gift for someone else or yourself, and is great value when you consider how many recipes are inside!
Rating: 8/10 (just too many almonds for my liking!)
Handmade by Hannah 