My Favourite Cookbooks!

As this is my 10th blog post I thought I would do something a little bit different: a review of my favourite baking books! I'm back home from university for the summer holidays so I have gone through my Mum's bookshelf and chosen the books that I always keep coming back to whenever I'm home and want to bake. I thought it might be quite nice to choose my favourite recipes from each book, as well as a 'challenge' recipe for me to attempt in future blog posts! I hope you like this different style of post :)

1. The Great British Bake Off: How to Bake

I am so happy that The Great British Bake Off  has finally returned! Until I get my yearly fix, the How to Bake book has had to suffice. This book, with recipes by Linda Collister and forewords by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, is fantastic for new and old bakers alike as there are classic bakes, old favourites as well as the infamous 'technical challenges'. It's a great book if you're a follower of the show as they include the 'Best of the Bake Off' recipes - so you can recreate some of your favourite bakes from the show at home!

Favourite recipe: Cherry Bakewell cupcakes

Challenge recipe: Mushroom and gorgonzola twists

2. Tessa Kiros: Apples for Jam
This book wins every award for photography, typography...recipe-ography. No? Haha. 
It is so beautiful that I'm always too scared to attempt anything in fear that my bake would never live up to expectation! Other than how gorgeous it looks, the thing I really love about Apples for Jam is that each section is colour coded: red, orange, yellow, pink, even gold! It's so cool. It is also a cookery book rather than a baking book, and whenever I pull it out to bake from it, I just end up getting hungry from all of the dinner recipes. 

Favourite recipe: Chocolate & vanilla marble cake

Challenge recipe: Chocolate pannacotta

3. Nigella Lawson: How to be a Domestic Goddess
It is definitely no surprise that this book made its way into my favourites! I absolutely adore Nigella, I love the decadence of her recipes, I respect her large portions and her frank way of writing is just so great. This cookbook is clearly a favourite with both me and my Mum - the pages are splattered with chocolate and cake mix...nice! I really would recommend this book, I feel you really can't go wrong with Nigella, and who doesn't want to be a domestic goddess?!

Favourite recipe: Brownies

Challenge recipe: Pistachio macarons

 4. Annie Bell: Baking Bible
Annie Bell has been named a 'bright light among Britain's food writers' and by going through her Baking Bible it is clear to see why. Her book contains more recipes than I can count, with beautiful photographs and lovely paragraphs about each recipe. It is split into twelve chapters as well as an introduction and a section about the basics of baking. Meringues and cheesecakes have their own chapters which I think is great! 

Favourite recipe: Raspberry & almond traybake

Challenge recipe: Tiramisu torte

So, there we have it - a round-up of my favourite baking and recipe books! I am excited for my challenge recipes, keep your eyes peeled for those. I will be tweeting when I am making them, so make sure you're following @theyellowbook_ over on Twitter! I'm thinking a Sunday night post for each challenge which will take us through August, along with some mid-week recipes!