DK Natural Baking: Healthier Recipes for a Guilt-Free Treat

Stunning photos and lovely recipes, would make a great gift as very attractive. All have come out great so far. Quite a lot of sugar in the recipes in the form of honey or maple syrup so watch out - it's not all as healthy as it looks

This book is one of my favorite baking books, with really nice ideas for recipies using different flours. Many recipies use some seasonal fruits or veg, whuch is quite inspiring. Besides cakes/muffins/..., the book also contains recipies for pancakes and waffles. The blueberry pancakes are amazing - making them regularly as a weekend treat by now!

The tagline for this book, "Healthier recipes for a guilt-free treat", is perfectly accurate but very cleverly worded since the 'treats' included here are a bit healthier without actually being particularly healthy - mainly because although they may be guilt-free they're hardly sugar or fat free. It's a beautifully presented book with the design and photography lilac-tinged and retro-looking making for a very appealing and attractive read. If you're someone who already tries to include more natural ingredients in your baking then I doubt that many of these recipes will be particularly new or surprising to you as they mostly rely on tried and tested alternatives to bleached white flour and refined sugar. Hopefully you might already have the alternative flours and sweeteners in your cupboard already too and if you don't then expect a very expensive visit to the local deli or supermarket.Once you get back from Holland & Barrett with the heavy shopping bag and a much lighter wallet or purse then you can indulge yourself and the family with a wide selection of cakes and biscuits featuring natural ingredients. There are recipes here suitable for everyday treats or special occasion bakes and they're presented with flair and an eye for the unusual. I've been baking with some of these ingredients for years but I will admit there are some presentation ideas here I would never have thought of and so, for me, it's a worthwhile book just for that. If you enjoy baking and want to try something other than endless confections of white sugar and butter then this book does bring together a great selection of ideas and recipes to try and it's lovely to look at. It would make a nice gift - especially if given along with a gift voucher for the nearest deli or wholefood shop because the featured ingredients don't come cheap.

This book is packed with interesting cake recipes , If you like berries, you'll love this book, and the illustrations are wonderful!

The cakes in this book are really good. Others have complained about the difficuly sourcing ingredients I saty out in the sticks but had no problems ordering "unusual" ingredients online