Cake collection is Berry speedy
Queen of baking Mary Berry offers a stash of quick and easy recipes in her latest collection, writes ELLA WALKER
NEED a cake in a hurry? Mary Berry will have a recipe for that. Arguably the nation’s most beloved food writer, this is a revised version of the former Great British Bake Off presenter’s 1981 original.
Packed with snappy instructions for cakes to rely on, here’s our verdict on the updated collection... Who will love it? FIRSTLY, kids – there’s a whole section dedicated to childfriendly bakes (the jelly tot cakes are particularly adorable, while the bright pink coconut ice is such a doddle, kids won’t even need supervising to make it). Then it’ll appeal to people who need cake and need it now – most of the recipes only take 10-15 minutes to prep. What is it trying to get us cooking? CLASSIC cakes, in all their forms – from coffee and walnut and banana loaves, to decadent chocolate fudge cakes – as well as biscuits, fruit breads, buns and pastries. Basically, sweet stuff that requires an oven. How easy is it to use? EXTREMELY easy. The whole point of this book is to help you whip up bakes at speed, so by necessity, they aren’t complicated, use few ingredients (that you can get at every supermarket) and are laid out one recipe to a page. It’s designed so neatly, that it’s practically impossible to miss a step or misunderstand an instruction. The only downside is, there isn’t a picture of every bake so for some, you’re baking blind, so to speak. The best recipe is... THE lemon drizzle traybake, an oldie but a goodie, it’s easy to scoff an entire tray in one sitting. Overall rating: 7/10 PERFECT for beginners, experienced bakers are unlikely to be wowed, even though they’re speedy recipes.