Jackie includes some great tips in her newest recipe book, Baking With Jackie Cameron. These include making a well in the centre of your cake batter to create an even height cake. And, to test if your raising agent is fresh place a bit on the tip of your tongue. If it fizzes it’s fine. She has dedicated the book to her family and the foreword has been written by Anna Trapido. Jackie shares that she learnt to make sweet treats as that was the only way she and her sister would get them. She believes that the pastry section of a kitchen sifts out the good from the average.
Chapters are divided into:
- Biscuits
- Breads
- Cakes
- Desserts and Puddings
- Pies and Tarts
- Small Cakes
Recipes that caught my eye:
- 1-2-3 lavender biscuits (p15)
- Horlicks chews (p21)
- Beer bread with garlic and rosemary (p34)
- Naartjie and cardamom cake (p46)
- White chocolate mousse cake (p60)
- ‘New Age’ baked Alaska dessert (p68)
- Chocolate torte (p77)
- Rose geranium-infused crème caramel (p88)
- Leek and artichoke tart (p115)
- Chocolate almond tart (p123)
- Dark chocolate marquise peppermint crisp tart (p128)
- Chocolate and cranberry fridge tart (p129)
- Granadilla tart with romany biscuit base and Italian meringue (p135)
- Die ‘Engelse meisie’ se melk tert (p136)
- Chelsea buns (p148)
What I made:
I made the naartjie and cardamom cake, substituting orange juice for the naartjie juice due to what is in season. The cake was an absolute failure. The recipe called for it to be baked for 40 minutes. Eventually after 70 minutes I stopped counting the time. Once it finally cooked, I added the syrup and ended up with quite a solid albeit moist, baked pudding. I then made the horlicks chews using chocolate horlicks, reducing the recipe drastically as I did not want to waste more ingredients. These called for 15 minutes baking time. I needed 25 minutes. Whereas I know ovens vary, I cannot believe they vary by this much.
My verdict:
Each chapter starts with a photo of Jackie and not every recipe has an accompanying photograph. This made a difference in what I thought was good enough to try as if I couldn’t see the end result in some recipes I wouldn’t spend the time making them. I liked the troubleshooting notes, but given my experiences with two of the recipes this is not a book I will refer to again.
Publishing information:
Disclosure: I was sent the book to review by Penguin Books South Africa. I was not required to write a positive review. This post is in line with my blogging policy.
Inspiration published on Lavender and Lime January 11:
- 2016 – Moroccan Tomato Salad
- 2015 – The Killing Room
- 2012 – Fennel
- 2011 – Chicken And Mushroom Pasta
You chose a great recipe to try, it sounds delicious! I like the sound of the Horlick’s chews too.
The chews were worth making again!
Looks like a good read.. I stink at baking, I always let my husband take over there, lol! – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com
I wish mine did sometimes as well!
Oh, what a disappointment.
for sure!
Its frustrating when a recipe or baking time don’t work according to the recipe. What a disappointment for you Tandy.
Have a super day.
🙂 Mandy xo
It was indeed!
I have found so many cookbooks are inaccurate nowadays and it can be really frustrating even for an experienced cook.
It drives me scatty to waste the ingredients!
I too think that every recipe needs a photo or I have no idea what my end goal should be!
Sometimes I can work it out, but not always 🙂
que libro mas interesante, que delicias
It was not quite a delight sadly.
Baking is not my strong point, sounds like this book would be quite challenging for me. Take care. xo
It is not worth tackling at all!
Inaccuracy does drive me nutso!
Me too!