The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook - Tarek Malouf

I originally bought this recipe book for a friend who is a big fan of the bakeries in Portobello Rd and Kensington. The book makes a gorgeous gift for friends who love to cook; it has a pretty design and the photography is beautiful. For those of you who aren't familiar with Hummingbird, they are a bakery inspired by American home baking with two (very popular!) branches in Central London. The book is filled with recipes for the bakery's trademark cupcakes and cakes to muffins, pies, cookies, brownies and cereal bars. Examples include: Red Velvet Cupcakes, Brooklyn Blackout Cake, Mississippi Mud Pie and New York Style Cheesecake. After ...  Read the complete review

*Publication details* Title: The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook Author: Tarek Malouf Book Type: Non Fiction / Food and Drink / Baking Publisher: Ryland, Peters & Small Ltd Publication date: 15 April 2009 ISBN: 1845978307 RRP: £16.99 *Synopsis* The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook is based on the sweet treats sold at the Hummingbird Bakeries in London. Sixty different recipes are shared from cupcakes to key lime pie. All are based on the American style of baking. The product description claims, 'Hummingbird recipes not only taste great but also look spectacular - without resorting to fussy recipes and hours in the ...  Read the complete review

This book is visually exactly what a baking book should be. On each double page there is one side of a big, glossy picture of what you are making, and on the other is the recipe, clearly laid out and easy to read. However without fail every recipe I have undertaken so far has had a technical error in it. All the recipes appear to make 12 cupcakes, but in reality this is 7-9, which is a pretty small batch. That's fine, and I can live with it. However what bugs me is that none of the recipies appear to have been tested. Lemon Cupcakes These were interesting in that the recipie at no point calls for you to put any lemon in the batter, ...  Read the complete review

This book is completely gorgeous - cakey porn for the sweet toothed. I was bought this book for my birthday in April after reading a taster recipe in Delicious magazine - unfortunately it hadn't come out then and I had to wait several weeks. I was really pleased when I saw it so heavily promoted when it was published as it's a great book. I love baking, but as I have a small kitchen I love reading baking books more than actually cooking, but this book has driven me back into the kitchen. So far I've made lemon cupcakes - delicious but a bit of a faff getting all the lemon zest; the regular cupcakes with pink icing and sprinkles, very girly, and the fridge ...  Read the complete review

I love baking, a fairly unusual statement for a man to make. This must be my favourite of all the baking and cookery books we own. The Hummingbird Bakery is a small bakery with branches in London, but I had never heard of it until this book came out. The book is in a familiar format, with a full page glossy picture on one side of the spread, and the recipie on the other. The book is divided into several sections, foussing on a kind of baked good. Cookies, brownies, pies, tarts, muffins and cupcakes are all covered. I have made several recipies from this book, and they have all been amazing. However this book is not for the novice ...  Read the complete review