Weekend Cooking: Bake Your Sweet Time by Tat Effby

 If you look at enough cookbooks, sometimes they can get to the point where they are a bit same same, so it is always a delight when you find one that is very different.

Tat Effby is known as The Caketoonist on Instagram where she combines cartoons, humour and baking. Recently her book Bake Your Sweet Time was released and I was keen to read it as soon as I heard about it. 

It isn't just the fact that there is a very distinct style to the cook book that makes this different, although that is a factor. There are some photos of the recipes as well as cartoons throughout the recipes illustrating ingredients to techniques. The other thing that makes this different can be summed up by the subtitle of the book - "Different takes on classic bakes to fit the time you have". So what does that mean?

In this book there are twenty different classic bakes/flavour combinations. The author then shares a number of recipes which range in time commitment from quick to medium to long. To give you an example, there is a chapter on Rhubarb and Custard. Now I love rhubarb as a flavour but I am the only one in my house who does, so I am unlikely to be able to make these, but they sound delicious.

For the quick recipe, there is Rhubarb Roll and Custard, which is stalks of rhubarb, wrapped in marzipan and then wrapped in puff pastry. After baking, the roll is served with egg custard made from scratch. There is also an option for a plant-based custard given. 

The first medium recipe is for Candied Rhubarb and Custard Cookies, which just sounds delicious. Whilst these are fairly quick to make, the recipe does rely on the fact that you have made candied rhubarb as part of a recipe called cheong.

The first long recipe sounds oh so good. It is a Rhubarb and Custard Mousse Cake which is described as "a layer of light almond sponge soaked with a strawberry compote, covered with thick, vanilla pastry cream, topped with an airy rhubarb adn strawberry mousse, then finished with a ginger glaze and mini meringues." If I saw that on a menu, I would totally order it for dessert. 

The final recipes in the rhubarb and custard chapter is a long one and it is for the Rhubarb Cheong and Candied Rhubarb. Cheong is a method of making fruit syrups just by combining fruit and sugar and letting it sit for a few days. The candied rhubarb is a secondary product which can be used for other recipes, such as the cookies I mentioned above.

One of the things I really like is the way the author has illustrated the various layers in a dessert so you can see exactly how some of the layered desserts need to come together! 

Some of the other chapters include Black Forest Gateau, Cheesecake (my favourite), Meringue Pie, Sticky Toffee Pudding and Lemon Drizzle. The final chapter in the book is called Foundation Recipes and includes recipes for things like pastries, meringues, frosting and more.

I borrowed this from the library and I was disappointed when I couldn't extend it for another couple of weeks. I am tempted to buy it because it is just fun to even read through. Full of joyful, colourful illustrations, good recipes and a really fun concept, this book has it all!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Chicken Stir Fry
Sunday - Nothing
Monday - Italian Meatballs
Tuesday - Baked prawn nasi goreng
Wednesday - Normandy style pork fillet (new)
Thursday - Pumpkin curry (new)
Friday - Takeaway 

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend in the comments. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page