My favourite things...cookbooks

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of World Book Day today, I am going to share my trusty baking cookbooks.

Linda Collister's Baking Bible

This was my first ever baking book and it is the one I use the most often. It truly is my baking bible! This book is a great all-rounder as it has recipes for every type of bake - biscuits, cakes, pies, tarts, desserts, bread, the list goes on! With so many types of baking in one book, I have learnt so many different baking techniques and is a great go-to book if I am looking for inspiration.

The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf

This book is based on the cakes from the Hummingbird bakeries in London so you can recreate them at home. Hummingbird specialises in great cupcake flavours that are so easy to make so I tend to use this book if I need to bake something en masse, such as for a cake sale. However, they don't just do cupcakes but also American-style pies, brownies and cookies. The carrot cake recipe is definitely a crowd-pleaser as it produces a super moist cake with a luscious cream cheese icing.

Hello Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson

Another cupcake book but unlike Hummingbird, this book concentrates on cake decorating. I find icing cakes neatly so difficult but this book is fully of handy hints and cheats using sweets or biscuits. It shows that you don't need fancy kit and a big budget to create fun cupcakes. The designs are very imaginative and are divided into themes such as April's fools, party animals, events such as birthdays and baby showers as well as seasonal offerings for Christmas and Halloween. I love decorating cupcakes with sunflowers using oreos for the centre and creating the petals with yellow icing.

The Pink Whisk Guide to Bread Making by Ruth Clemmens

Making bread used to defeat me until The Literary Lady gave me this book! Bread making is quite technical and I never understood the different methods. However, this book is fantastic because it explains all the techniques clearly using step-by-step pictures. It even has a section on troubleshooting all the problems I used to have with my bread! This book is fabulous for beginners and teaches you how to make simple loaves, sweet and savoury breads and elaborate plaited loaves. My favourite recipe is the chorizo and potato boule.

So those are my top baking books. I would love to have more recommendations! I have also done a post on my favourite teas and there will be more favourites posts to come.

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