Great British Bake Off: Big Book of Baking

I’ve waited to write this review until I’ve tried a decent amount of the recipes in here. So far I’ve baked: chocolate fudge brownies, the perfect soft white sandwich bread, plaited saffron loaf, stuffed focaccia, banana bread, chocolate and cherry loaf, ciabatta, Roquefort and walnut-filled loaf, Victoria sandwich cake (many, many times!), Cherry and almond Battenberg cake, lemon curd Swiss roll, cherry cake, giant sausage roll, cheese ham and chive tart, and the snowball meringues. I have many more recipes in here I still want to get to. The book is a mix of recipes from the show and ones that are not. I don’t mind this, but I would’ve liked to see more from the contestants. Yes, the measurements are all metric. Kitchen scales are $10 or less on amazon, just grab one. Directions are clear and easy to follow. If you’re a fan of the show, grab this cookbook. Even if you’re not a fan, there are tons of awesome recipes in here that are definite crowd pleasers.

It’s a great recipe book I do wish they had more recipes from the show and the judges and less random recipes that you have no idea whose recipe it is, but still a great buy! One thing I have to say there is a typo there may be more than one, but the one I came upon was for the praline biscotti. I went ahead and made them and was all excited until I bit into the biscotti and it was pretty soft and chewy. Come to find out the second bake was suppose to be at the Celsius degree and not the Fahrenheit because they accidentally swapped the temperatures. So baked it at 170 Fahrenheit because that was as low as our oven went and they were still fairly blonde, but I thought that’s how they were suppose to come out. Ughhhh so that was frustrating, but glad my sister in law looked it up and found that error.

"Never let it be forgot, that once there was a spot. For one bright shining moment - that was known as British Bake Off". A wonderful slice of television history soon to be lost to us all. Recipes handed down the generations, or whipped up in the imaginations, of an age and ethnic-varied group of people vying for a glass cake plate with all the competitiveness of a warm hug. But enough wistful reminiscing about a gentler and less greedy age of cookery. As to the book itself - apart from the baking temperatures, if you don't speak metric (oh President Carter, if you'd only been more insistent about Americans converting), you'll need to make some translating notes. Americans will need to translate ingredients as well - strong flour = bread flour, plain flour = all-purpose flour, bicarbonate of soda = baking soda, icing sugar = confectioner's/powdered sugar, double cream = heavy cream (not really), caster sugar = granulated sugar (not really), muscovado sugar = brown sugar (not really), golden syrup = corn syrup (not really), treacle = (well, you get the idea). Unless you have a source for the British ingredients, the recipes aren't going to taste exactly BBC - but then again, the book has a recipe for making your own Modeling Chocolate - oooh, scrummy! Someone mentioned the yellow print (on the white pages), and yes, that is definitely a "What were they thinking?" choice, especially for the Baker's Guide at the front of the book. And yes, having a picture for each bake would have been preferable (as George Carlin said, "Is there a picture of it in the cookbook Ma? Bet it don't look like that!") - except for the Cheat's Sourdough on page 95 - is that an aerial shot of the Great Salt Lake? However, if you ADORE the recipes from Bake Off (and what GBBO addict doesn't?), you'll love the selections from judges and Season 5 contestants alike (even dear chocolate-covered Claire, who left first). You may even start referring to your baking pans as baking 'tins'.

I bought this as a present for my sister. She loves watching the show. She was so happy. When she browsed through the book she was excited to start trying the recipes. I will enjoy eating them LOL!

I only just bought this and so far it seems to be a fairly decent baking guide. There is a section at the beginning that explains the various baking techniques they use, which helps with terminology as well. Get yourself a kitchen scale, because everything is given in metric units (it will also make your bakes more reliable anyway). The recipes are directly from the show, so they should at the very least look appetizing, though time will tell if they taste good as well. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that there seems to be a recipe missing. I'm not sure if I just have a misprinted edition, but there is a recipe for "Savoury Pastry Parcels" listed in the "Savoury Bakes" section that should be between "Tapenade Twists" and "Little Crab Souffles." In my book Tapenade Twists occupies page 261, and then Little Crab Souffles is on page 262, with Paul's Mini Sausage Plaits closing out the chapter. "Savoury Pastry Parcels" was the title of a signature bake, so perhaps it was meant as a placeholder for the editor that was never filled? The main reason I bought this book was for the savoury bakes, so it was mildly disappointing to be missing one. Regardless, the book seems to be exactly what I was expecting it to be.

Plenty of delicious recipes.

Got this as a present for my mom… turns out it was perfect for her and my dad because he got to enjoy all the delicious food she made! It was the perfect gift for staying in during COVID. Just be aware a lot of measurements are in grams.

My mom is a British Bake off fan, so I bought this for her as a gift! There are lots of nice and yummy looking recipes in here.

Ich habe mich schon sehr auf das Buch gefreut nachdem ich mich in die Sendung schon längst verliebt habe. Ich bin auch fast vollkommen zufrieden, dass einzige was ich mich gewünscht hätte das ein paar mehr dekorative Kuchen bzw. Torten darin enthalten wesen wären. Aber dafür welche ich mir vielleicht einfach nochmal das Showstopper Buch aus der Reihe holen, vielleicht schafft das dann 5 Sterne, denn ansonsten bin ich sehr glücklich und die Rezepte sind gut umzusetzen und schmecken super.

If you have loved the Great British Bake Off lik me this book is a must. I think is also very appropriate also for people that are beginners at baking, since there are very clear explanations of all the processes, even of the most difficult cakes.

I was very excited about getting this book, and it was definitely worth the wait. Even with just a quick flick through the pages, it's evident the amount of time and care has been put into it - visually it is beautiful. The design is colourful and simple but extrememly effective, and the photography is stunning - the pictures make you want to start baking right away. The recipes themselves are many and varied and their difficulty level is clearly set out in the top corner of every page. The chapters range from Cakes, to Patisserie , to savoury Bakes, so there is something for everyone. I haven't baked anything out of the book yet, but I have lots of ideas of what to try out first. In addition there is a bakers guide at the beginning of the book which explains all the techniques an terminology used. Overall, this book is a must buy for all bake of fans and general home baking enthusiasts - highly recommended and great value for money.

It's a great collection of recipes.