My Favourite Baking Books

The origin of my love for baking remains slightly mysterious up to this day… Meaning I just don’t remember it clearly anymore. I seem to recall buying my very first baking book on a whim, and I think it started from there. This week I didn’t have any time to bake, since the new semester started on Monday, and had me trying to figure out a good routine and schedule for the upcoming weeks. Oh, and then there was homework, of course, that too.

Instead of boring you with an account of my stressful week, I decided to provide with a post that has been at the back of my mind for a while now. It’s my Top 5 of Favourite Baking Books! (Sadly, that one book that started everything isn’t even in it).

#1: Reader’s Digest Baking Bible

I bought this book in the summer of 2011, when I was on holiday in England with my parents and Jitske (my baking friend, who’s featured before on my blog). We went a bit mad that summer, to be honest. When we got back home in the Netherlands after about two and a half great weeks in England, Jitske and I both had several bags of baking stuff (tools, books, marzipan, food colouring, etc.). I remember standing with this book in my hands in a book store, doubting whether or not I should buy it, since I’d already bought so much stuff…

I’m very glad I decided to go for it in the end, because this book is absolutely wonderful! It’s got such a great variety of recipes, from muffins and cookies to breads and quiches. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of browsing through this book, and it has so many more recipes I want to give a go.

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#2: 1 Mix, 100 Muffins – Susanna Tee

I adore muffins; they’re simple to make, easy to transport and  delicious, with endless possibilities to create new recipes. This book serves as a great source of inspiration when I’ve got the sudden urge to make some muffins (which I’ve got quite often), with recipes that are easy to tweak or combine.

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#3: The Chocolate Bible – Christine McFadden & Christine France

This book is absolutely gorgeous. Not only does it feature over 200 chocolate based recipes, it also gives the reader a history lesson on chocolate, and an explanation about different kinds of chocolates and how to use them.

I believe I got this book as a birthday gift from my parents a couple of years ago and I remember immediately falling in love with it. However, my father can’t eat chocolate without getting a terrible migraine, and therefore never eats it, even though he loves it. That’s why I haven’t used this book very often (I think only 2 or 3 times), seeing as my parents were mainly the ones to eat my baked goodies for the last couple of years. I no longer live at home though, so perhaps I should start experimenting with this book some more. And otherwise I can always just look at the pretty pictures.

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#4: 1 Dough, 100 Cookies – Linda Doeser

This one comes in really handy with my Cookie Rookie project (which I should really start working on again)! I like it less than the muffin book, though, since it contains fewer recipes I think will turn out tasty. It mainly serves as a great source for inspiration, just like the muffin book. Plus, the two of them look pretty standing next to each other on my bookshelf!

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#5: Cake Days – The Hummingbird Bakery

I bought this book on the same holiday as the Reader’s Digest Baking Bible. I think the main reason was that it looks so pretty! Seriously, it’s got the most beautiful pictures of cakes, cupcakes and whoopie pies. I haven’t used this one a lot, though. I’m not really sure why, and I hope to use it some more the coming year. I’ve never made a whoopie pie, for instance, so that’s a nice challenge! The book does feature a delicious Chocolate Guinness cake my mother and I once made as a birthday present for a friend of hers. What I love most about this book, though, is the vibe it gives: just looking at the recipes and the pictures cheers me up!

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So, that was my Top 5 of favourite baking books! Do you own any of these books, and do you agree with my opinions of them? What are your favourite baking books, or do you use the internet as inspiration for your baking adventures?