The Boy Who Bakes

Published: 2011
Author: Edd Kimber

A book which promises to make baking part of everyday life

One of the surprise TV hits of last year was the BBC2 programme The Great British Bake-Off.  A baking competition with knowledgeable, constructive judges and hosts who were genuinely enthusiastic about the contestants and their entries.  I saw most of the series on iPlayer but somehow managed to miss the last couple of episodes so never actually found out who won.  Then I heard about The Boy Who Bakes – a new cookery book by Edd Kimber, the winner of The Great British Bake-Off.

Edd is self-taught and beat off competition from 4000 applicants to be crowned Britain’s best amateur baker.  His aim is to bring a love of baking into everyone’s home.  And  his method is this book of over 100 recipes which is released today.

I had a real sense of anticipation when I started to flick through The Boy Who Bakes, everything just looked so appealing and tasty.  I was pretty desperate to get started and went out straight away to buy some ingredients.  Kimber doesn’t appear to be interested in what the current baking trends are.  There’s only a couple of cupcake recipes here and I got the distinct impression that they’ve only been included under sufferance.  These recipes aren’t about following trends, or even creating new trends.  These are classics which I think he hopes become staples in all of our baking repertoires.

Each recipe is preceded by a little introduction from Kimber.  These snippets offer a nice insight into his life, his passion for baking and his personality.  These are just little friendly asides though – the recipes are the main attraction.

I picked three very different recipes to give me an idea of how the book and I were going to get on together – Orange & Passionfruit Cake, Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and Nutella & Banana Bites.  I found the instructions really simple to follow and barring a bit of user error on the Orange & Passionfruit cake (never open the oven door Louise!) they all turned out beautifully.  The Nutella & Banana Bites are little pieces of heaven which make use of a delicious combination of flavours, a really simple fridge recipe which kids especially will enjoy helping with.

One of the great things about baking is the reaction from other people when they see and taste the result of all your hard work.  Wide eyes, a big smile and straight back into the kitchen for another helping is what I’m always hoping to see and I wasn’t disappointed here.  I’m pretty sure Darren loved the cookies so that was another success story,  And despite the deflation in the Orange & Passionfruit Cake, it tasted wonderful – I’m going to try it again today and leave the oven door alone this time!

Edd Kimber wants us to enjoy baking and the cakes that we create and the photography by Yuki Sugiura emphasises that.  The food looks delicious but it’s the background detail that gives a real sense of personality – a cup of tea, a newspaper, a glass of milk.  Everything about this book tells you that baking is fun, relaxing and to be enjoyed at home – not something to stress over.

I doubt that I’ll find one recipe in this book that I’ll stick with and bake over and over again – it’s more exciting than that.  The Boy Who Bakes is going to challenge me to up my baking game and move out of my cupcake comfort zone.  There’s so much that I want to try.  Next on the agenda – getting the Orange & Passionfruit Cake right, then Peaches & Cream Upside Down Cake, Nanaimo Bars and Strawberry Tarts.  I’ll start back on the diet soon.  Actually, maybe not that soon – it’s a big book….