I think I mentioned a long while ago that my mother had bought a bunch of cookbooks on sale as Christmas gifts, and then misplaced the bag for a few years, then found it. I have finally completed the last of these, and it might just be the best. I have been a fan of the Great British Bake Off (or Baking Show in the US, but The Great British Bake Off Bake It Better: Pies, Tarts & Puddings is of UK origin so we’ll stick with the original title) since it’s been available in the US.
This appears to have originally been published as 2 distinct book that have been consolidated; I know this because a little over mid-way through (after the “Pies & Tarts” segment which includes its own credits and index), there’s another full color title page and publisher info page for “Puddings & Desserts” before the recipes continue. This in itself isn’t a problem, but why not edit out the “how to bake” details (basic equipment lists, basic ingredient discussions, etc) to avoid so much repetition? It’s a total waste of space, especially since the sections are incredibly similar. On a related note, trying to use an index is a little tricky since there’s actually two, one for each distinct section, so finding the right one can sometimes be a pain.
Minor complain aside, both the pudding and desert sections are essentially filled with do-able versions of bunch of British classics like sticky toffee pudding, bakewell tarts, and banoffee pie; really, the only downside is that I’m probably going to have to turn to the internet to acquire a pudding basin since I suspect the specific shape is a factor is proper cooking; I think I can get away with muffin tins for the individual serving-sized versions, but we’ll have to see. I also like that there are some of the classic savory options too like chive, cheese, and onion turnovers and mini meat pies.
This is not one of those GBBO books that presents the impossible to do at home sorts of recipes that would take a normal person 2 days to put together; if filo or puff pastry is called for, store-bought is on the ingredient list. If you really wanted to, you could find recipes for both in other GBBO books, but since this one seems more geared towards homey comfort things, it makes sense that the baking/cooking process not be too arduous as well. Admittedly, I say this without having attempted anything in here yet, but that should hopefully change quite soon.