Books to inspire your autumn baking
We're at the beginning of Autumn, and Easter and the end of daylight saving are looming. This seems like the perfect time to have a baking project to look forward to. Here are a few new and old favourites we think will inspire and get you excited.
Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice by Natalie Paull
Sweet-toothed superstar and bestselling baker Natalie Paull returns with Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice, an all-new compilation of colourful, creative recipes to delight fans and newcomers alike. These are the cakes and desserts Paull has loved to eat since closing her cult cafe and bakery in inner Melbourne in 2022. By popular demand, the book includes legendary bakes that were not in the hit original Beatrix Bakes.
Discover recipes for irresistible cookies and tray bakes, cakes, tarts, pies (and a strudel), doughs and epic day-off baking projects to fill your weekend. It also features Beatrix baseix, fruity bits and cake-cessories, as well as the beloved Adaptrix tips for handy substitutions, all served in Paull's signature style: warm, encouraging and firm when required.
Baker Bleu: Bake It till You Make It by Mike Russell
Baker Bleu: Bake It till You Make It is a cookbook of sorts. At least, it has 70-plus delicious, inventive recipes for anyone who wants to emulate the best bread and Roman-style sourdough pizza bases in Melbourne. And those who are sandwich fiends (like Neil Perry), or who aspire to resourcefulness with leftover bread, or use croissant dough to make simple filled pastries at home (and prudently leave the whole croissant palaver to the experts). Or just crave the bakery's now cultish vegan challah (born of the fact its first low-grade food licence did not allow them to work with eggs).
But there is more to it too. It's also a story of what's possible when you wake up one day and decide there's more to life than the soulless corporate grind. And you sign on with pluck and ambition to bake it till you make it.
The Vegan Home Baker by Georgia Irwin
When Georgia Irwin adopted a vegan lifestyle, she found herself craving the baked goods of her childhood: vanilla slices, sausage rolls, apple pies and more. She spent years experimenting with family recipes until she came up with vegan alternatives that live up to (and maybe even surpass!) the originals - and now you can make them too.
Whether it be a fresh, tangy raw lemon tart from her famous Magic Range for a picnic, or a decadent, creamy baked cheesecake for a dinner party, The Vegan Home Baker is an indispensable vegan baking book you'll never put away.
Et Voilà! A Simple French Baking Love Story by Manon Lagreve
In her debut cookbook, Et Voilà!, Great British Bake Off alumni Manon Lagreve proves that elegant French baking does not have to be difficult or pretentious to make. With just a few basic pieces of baking equipment and Manon's secret short-cuts, you too can master the French pastries and desserts of your dreams. This is a collection of her favourite family recipes, many of which were handed down by her mother and grandmothers, and are perfect for sharing with the people you love.
Whether you want to perfect the classics such as brioche, eclairs and macarons or whip up a galette or a clafoutis after a mid-week meal, there's something for every baker and palate. French baking can be chic and simple, and whatever your baking skill, Manon will show you how.
Modern Baking by Donna Hay
Donna Hay, Australia’s bestselling, favourite and most trusted cook, brings you one of her most beautiful books yet: Modern Baking.
This book is her modern baking bible. Inside are more than 250 mouthwatering recipes for cakes, biscuits and other sweet treats, her all-time favourite essentials, plus some super-smart shortcuts for when life gets crazy busy. Also included are plenty of better-for-you treats, made with wholesome raw ingredients, for a touch of balance. Be it chewy cookies, the fudgiest brownies, dreamy meringue or creamy iced desserts, let these modern sweets bring a little magic into your kitchen.
A New Way to Bake by Philip Khoury
Chef Philip Khoury has delved deep into patisserie in an attempt to make desserts that are 'cleaner', and that present finer flavours and textures. In A New Way to Bake, he transforms the traditional building blocks of baking by only using natural, plant-based ingredients.
It uncovers a brief history of baking before setting out the Plantry, where the main ingredients and their functionalities are explained. Full of delicious bakes, from Apple Pie to Banana Bread, to Lamingtons and Tiramisu, there are sweet treats for any occasion.
Recipes are broken down into digestible steps, with explanations as to why steps are important, and tips along the way too. Plus, there are even QR codes to help navigate through the recipes. It is a comprehensive guide that arms readers with a new outlook and tools to bake a better future.
Chocolate All Day by Kirsten Tibballs
Chocolate All Day is your invitation to indulge friends and family with choc-focused treats that are big on wow and low on difficulty. From a Chocolate Babka Knot with Peanut Swirl to Choc-chip Cookie Sandwiches with Orange Ganache, Rocky Road Chocolate Cake or Sticky Date Chocolate Puddings with Chocolate Caramel Drizzle. It's a chocolate-lover's paradise, brought to you by modern-day Willy Wonka Kirsten Tibballs, founder of the internationally renowned Savour School as well as star of the TV show The Chocolate Queen.
Recipes include tips to 'fix it' when there's a problem, ways to take the bake to the next level, as well as Tibballs' trademark skill-building know-how and technique advice so that you gain confidence with every recipe you make.
Small Batch Bakes by Edd Kimber
Baking recipes typically serve large groups, which is perfect for a party, a celebration or a crowd, but not when there’s just one or two of you and you would rather not spend the money on making a big batch, or be faced with eating leftovers for a week.
Following on from the huge success of One Tin Bakes and One Tin Bakes Easy, Great British Bake Off winner Edd Kimber’s new book proves that good things really do come in small packages! It offers accessible, easy bakes that are perfect for singles, small households, students or anyone who likes to bake a lot.
Love Is a Pink Cake by Claire Ptak
In Love Is a Pink Cake, Claire Ptak brings her West Coast of America fruit-forward perspective to British baking traditions. Simultaneously modern and traditional, these cakes offer an air of familiarity - homely, yet elevated with the best possible ingredients chosen at the height of their season to extract the best possible flavours.
From English classics, such as Black Forest Gateau and Rhubarb Victoria Sponge to Californian-inspired Butternut Squash and Brown Butter Cobbler and Chocolate Glazed Donuts, this cookbook offers over 75 recipes, including gluten-free, refined sugar-free and vegan bakes, and the famous royal wedding cake, Lemon and Elderflower Layer Cake.
Fitwaffle's Baking It Easy by Eloise Head
Social media baking superstar Fitwaffle (Eloise Head) bakes quick and easy cakes, cookies, traybakes and puddings using only 3 ingredients. In her first book she has collected 100 easy and delicious recipes, including brand-new creations as well as the most popular posts from online.
Find fifty 3-ingredient recipes, including Fitwaffle's crowd-pleasing Cookies and Cream Cake and delicious Chocolate Caramel Fudge, plus all of your favourite 4- and 5-ingredient recipes including Speculoos Ice Cream and a cinnamon roll made in a mug! Finally, you’ll find a chapter of her most popular special occasion bakes that need a few more ingredients but are totally worth it!
And don't forget these bestselling favourites: Beatrix Bakes by Natalie Paull (with a fantastic recipe for hot cross buns), The Tivoli Road Baker by Michael James with Pippa James, Sweet by Ottolenghi and Helen Goh & Mary Berry's Baking Bible.
