This month I'm reviewing three Christmas books from illustrated lifestyle publishers, Ryland Peters & Small and CICO Books. Today I'm reviewing Christmas Treats by Linda Collister. Linda Collister is a highly respected author of many baking, bread making and chocolate books and is often described as the bona fide queen of baking.
In my opinion this is a wonderful hardbound book full of sweet and savoury treats that are suitable for all cooks, from novice to pro. It combines beautifully styled photography with simple, easy to follow recipes. The hardback book is split into the following sections: Little bakes, brownies, bars and cakes, savoury treats and preserves.
Little bakes contains iced honey and cinnamon biscuits, rich dutch vanilla butter biscuits and indulgent triple chocolate cookies, to name a few. In brownies, bars and cakes you can choose from gluten intolerant-friendly sticky chocolate brownies (no flour!), French lemon squares made with thick cream and Christmas mini-muffins to start your Christmas morning with. Savoury treats contains recipes for crisp parmesan herb crisps, decorative cheese palmiers and buttery walnut sables to tempt you. Finally, in preserves you can choose from a rich, fruity cranberry and basil relish, slightly spicy, sweet golden maple squash butter or a juicy red fruit conserve.
Each culinary treat is styled in wonderful settings and photographed by William Reavell. Not only is it a delight to look at, but as you leaf through the pages it is full of practical instructions that are clear and easy to follow, with hints and tips to help you get it right first time.
I lent my copy to a friend of mine who is a novice in the kitchen but wanted to bake some iced honey and cinnamon cookies as a gift. They looked wonderful and she loved the easy to follow recipe and yummy taste!
At a recommended price of £9.99, I think it is good value for money as it contains a varied selection of treats you will want to make. From chilli cheese gougeres (small crisp puffs) to accompany a chilled glass of white wine to possibly the world's richest triple chocolate cookies, via glamourous lacy brandy snaps and Almond biscotti to satisfy any sweet tooth. The cranberry and basil relish sounds great for filling your house with a rich fruity aroma and to make cold turkey sandwiches ultra delicious! Some of the delightful projects I'd like to have a go at are:
Cider fruit squares for a friend of mine whose favourite tipple is cider!
Christmas truffles for my Winter Woodland dessert table.
Iced star biscuits. I have some acorn cookie cutters just begging to be used for these!
To summarize, Christmas Treats is a wonderful book full of recipes for quick and easy delicious treats with the irresistible smell of spices and sweets!
Please note that my opinions are my own and I am not paid for these reviews (apart from receiving a free book, of course!).
Have a sweet day!