Product Description

Your best friend in the kitchen and bestselling author, Rachel Allen, is back with a collection of delicious and easy cakes and bakes, tarts and pies, quiches and casseroles from her brand new TV series. What could be better than the smell of freshly baked bread or the joy of eating warm cookies straight from the oven? Do you pine for the pleasures of gingerbread houses and holiday delights or the warming goodness of home baked casseroles? These are just some of the treats that await in Bake, which ties in with Rachel's brand new TV series. She shares both the sweet and the savoury sides of baking, whether quick snacks, wholesome breads and pies, exotic cakes and tarts or easy baked meals for friends and family. Fully illustrated with beautiful food photography including step-by-steps to take the mystery out of traditional baking and pastry making. Rachel also offers troubleshooting techniques for common problems and wheat or gluten-free recipes so nobody is left out of the fun! Rachel's friendly and expert tuition make this easy-to-use book the best friend to every home baker.Recipes include: / Cardamon bread / Crispy bacon and cheddar bread / Paper-thin cripbreads, cheese straws and pretzels / Pork, chorizo and spinach pie / Beef pasties with mint, ginger and peas / Baked cheese fondue in a pumpkin / Smoked salmon and leek gratin / Seville orange meringue pie / Cornish saffron cake / Lime and yoghurt cake with rosewater and pistachios

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Review
"The book I've taken to most this season is by the Irish Nigella (except prettier, blonde and a better cook), Rachel Allen. Her BAKE is simply and engagingly written: one irresistible thing after another."
--Melanie McDonagh, London Evening Standard

About the Author
Rachel Allen is a much-loved Irish TV cook and the presenter of 4 highly acclaimed series including Rachel's Favourite Food and Rachel Allen: Bake!Rachel was brought up in Dublin and moved to Cork to study at the prestigious Ballymaloe Cookery School. Today, she still teaches at the school, writing regular features as well as for national publications.She lives in Cork with her husband Isaac and their two sons.

Customer Reviews

Another Great From Rachel Allen
This is a great book, I now have three of Rachel's books and this is by far my favourite. In response to the previous review, this book does have some casseroles (lemon and garlic chicken), maybe not all in the traditional slow cooked meat and veg sense but there are other great baked meals such as sausage and bean bake, cottage pie, lasagne and mediterranean pasta bake. I think it was a bit unfair to give the book 1 star based on the fact that it has no casseroles, especially as quite obviously that is not what the book is solely about. For casseroles and stews I would recommend Sophie Conran's Soups and Stews

There are a wide variety of baked goodies in this book; tarts, pies, quiches, breads, cakes, biscuits and also jams. There is also a glossary and a bit at the back giving you a step by step guide (with pictures) to making different types of pastry, bread, a sponge and meringue. There are also several ideas for icing (cream cheese, butter, vanilla buttercream, american frosting & glace) and sauces (bechamel, toffee, coffee, raspberry, blueberry & apple) as well as how to make your own crystallised flowers, marzipan, chocolate curls and candied peel.

I have cooked many recipes from this book already (I've only had it a few weeks!), the carrot cake is by far the best I have ever tasted. The only fault that I can give for this book is that there are too many yummy recipes and I don't have enough time to make them all! I can't recommend this book enough!

Can't help but loving this book!
If you only buy one baking book this winter - buy this one!
The book includes cakes, bread and oven-cooked dinners - frankly, it has everything you need regarding baking, and is very useful whether you are a keen baker or a debutante.
It has lots of basic recipes and techniques, and tips on which equipment you will need to succeed on baking (and don't worry, RA doesn't try to impose gadgets on you that you don't need!), and helpfully tells you which baking-tin you need in each recipe - unfortunately something not all bakery-writers can be bothered to do, but is rather crucial.
RA writes with a natural authority and humour - she clearly knows what she is doing without being overly strict - tells you how and if you can alter the recipes to suit your needs, but also what you must be aware of.

One minor critisism - pretty as RA is, I would have liked a few more pictures of the dishes/cakes and a fewer of the author. Pictures are very helpful, especially for the less experienced baker, so please consider this in a second edition!

Just the book I needed
I picked this up entirely randomly a couple of weeks ago, and I'm so glad I did. I've only tried a few of the recipes so far, but they've all tasted fabulous - the small pecan nut cookie "clouds", the iced orange cake, the lemon and garlic chicken, and the mediterranean pasta bake. The icing and sauces section at the back looks like it will be incredibly useful, and I also appreciate the inclusion of the tin/dish size for each recipe - take note of this, because I used too large a tin for the orange cake and while it still tasted great, it was a little on the flat side... Looking forward to trying plenty more cake recipes, and also making bread for the first time using this book. Highly recommended.