In
honour of the Great British Bake Off final this week I thought I
would review some cookery books aimed at children and teenagers. I
had planned to include the Farmyard Tales Cookbook, but as far as I
can find out it is no longer in print. If this is the case I would
beg Usborne to bring it back as it is brilliant for younger children.
I
like these books because they don't talk down to children and don't
assume that they have to be wacky and fun all the time. The recipes
are for real food rather than items with faces or funny shapes. I
prefer cookery books with photos of the finished food, because I am
far more likely to want to cook something if I can see what it will
look like.
Title:
The Usborne Beginner's Cookbook
Author: Fiona Watt
Publisher:
Usborne
Date
of publication: 2007
Format:
Hardback
Source:
My own copy
This
is a new edition of an old favourite, now in a spiral bound format
which makes it much easier to use. It is actually four different
cookbooks in one: Cooking for Beginners, Pasta and Pizza, Vegetarian
Cooking and Cakes and Cookies.
The
recipes are usually spread over two pages and set out in clear easy
to understand steps with full illustrations. This makes it much
easier to understand how to complete each stage. There is a photo of
every completed dish so you can see what it should look like when
finished. This book is easy to use with very clear instructions.
Younger children will need some adult supervision, for example when
putting something into the oven or heating items on the hob, but can
easily make all the different things. There is a good mix of recipes
and I would definitely recommend the brownies and the carrot cake.
These are the recipes that we always use in our house. I really like
using this book. The illustrations are clear and make it very easy to
follow for beginners and more experienced cooks alike.
Title:
The Ultimate Children's Cookbook
Author:
Katherine Ibbs, Denise Smart, Nicola Graimes
Publisher:
Dorling Kindersley
Date
of publication: 2009
Format: Hardback
Source: Library copy
This
book starts with a chapter on healthy eating including the basic
rules for safety in the kitchen. It explains the importance of the
different food groups and how to ensure that you get a good variety
in your diet. The recipes are divided up into breakfast, light meals,
main meals, desserts, baking, party food and drinks and treats.
The
recipes are clear and easy to follow with good photos of the
different steps. The tools required are listed along with the
ingredients which help you to get everything together at the start,
rather than having to search for something half way through cooking.
A red triangle with an exclamation mark indicates when adult
supervision is required. Each recipe includes tasty tips to allow
children to personalise them to their own tastes. I really like the
Jambalaya and the profiteroles. The first recipe I made from here was
for smoothies which were delicious. I like the way that the timings
are included so you can see how long it will take to prepare and then
to cook each recipe. This makes it much easier to decide what to
cook.
Title:
The Kids Only Cookbook
Author:
Sue Quinn
Publisher:
Quadrille Publishing Limited
Date
of publication: 2013
Format: Hardback
Source: My own copy
Like
the Dorling Kindersley book this has clear photos of each stage of
preparation along with a picture of the finished product. The
pictures show children cooking the food and often eating it as well,
which makes it more appealing. The recipes are straightforward,
without too many ingredients, and easy to follow with each stage
numbered. There is a coloured flash labelled 'adult help alert'
whenever supervision is required. I love the sticky toffee puddings
in a jar. There is also a good section at the end with edible
presents including some delicious lemon curd. There are lots of
recipes for 'proper food' along with a few fun ideas such as Kick 'n'
Roll Tin Can Ice Cream which needs no explanation.
Title:
Nosh for Students (4th edition)
Author:
Joy May
Publisher:
Intrade (GB) Ltd
Date
of publication: June 2013
Format: Paperback
Source: My own copy
This
book is for students but will be appealing to older teenagers. I
specified the 4th edition because this includes a photo
for every recipe. The recipes are short and easy to follow. They have
been written for someone living in a hall of residence or a student
house where they won't have lots of equipment. They are also costed
per portion and are all fairly cheap to cook. Rather than using
weights for the ingredients everything is measured using a mug or
measuring spoons, which I really like. It makes it much easier to
cook and takes less time as well. Each recipe has a simple key which
explains how long it takes to prepare and cook, how many it will feed
and how easy it is to make, scored on a scale from 1 to 5. There are
quite a lot of pasta recipes and sausages appear in lots of the main
meals. There is a good variety of recipes from quick and easy ones to
home-made versions of takeaway favourites. I really like the sausage
and bean bake and the snickerdoodles. It is a bit harder to keep open
than the other books reviewed here so you will need to weigh the book
down when cooking, but that is not a real problem.
Title:
Grow It Eat It
Publisher:
Dorling Kindersley (with the Royal Horticultural Society)
Date
of publication: 2008
Format: Hardback
Source: My own copy
This
is not strictly a cookery book, but a gardening book with recipes. It
encourages children to grow their own food and then cook it. There is
an introduction with basic gardening information and then the book is
divided into double page spreads devoted to different crops. There
are simple instructions supported by photos which will enable
children to grow a wide variety of fruit and vegetables such as
tomatoes, potatoes and strawberries. We have used this book to help
us grow blueberries which are delicious and much better for being
freshly picked when we use them. After each page of gardening
instructions there is a recipe using the crop you have just grown.
There are photos of all the different ingredients along with clear
pictures and instructions for the different stages. Like the other DK
book there are red triangles with an exclamation mark to indicate
when adult help is needed. Growing the food themselves will encourage
children to try different food and it is much more satisfying to eat
something you have produced yourself. I loved the carrot and orange
muffins and the green leaf tartlets. There are extra recipes at the
end without the photos of each stage, but completing other recipes in
the book gives you the confidence to try these ones. Most of the
plants are grown in containers so children won't need a large garden
to appreciate this book.
