DECEMBER READING DELIGHTS

Feasting my eyes on this months buys!

FEASTING MY EYES IN THIS MONTHS BUYS

Cookbooks honestly keep me sane.

I’m not even kidding.

I actually cherish the moments I have during the day to pour my tea, rest my feet and read the recipes of those authors I truly love - all while Sway (my daughter) sleeps. Over an hour of uninterrupted ‘me time’ to be filled with recipes, food photography and book notes to inspire my little baking adventures – it’s heaven!

Every month I like to indulge in a new cookbook - apologies to my bank account - but I can’t ever help myself! I know I’m not alone in my love for cookbooks but you could say I’m a little cookbook addicted… amongst many other things.

One day I will get a photo for you of my ever growing collection, but until I can work up the courage to carry and stage them all for a nice shot, I thought I’d start by sharing with you just a few of my favourites this past month or so!

Sweet Celebrations

If you follow my Instagram account, you will know I was lucky enough to attend a cooking demonstration and book signing with the wonderful Elise Straughn. With My Cupcake Addiction being such a big part of my baking adventures over the last few years, nothing made me happier than seeing Elise’s beautiful new book grace the shelves!

It’s full of amazing creations, centrepieces, tricks and cute little tips for all things celebration and it’s given me literally hours of enjoyment. With the Christmas holidays upon us I cannot wait to have some time to create more of the magical things from Elise’s mind – you should too!

My favourite book treat made to date…The Glowing Candy Cottage! This little gem gave Sway and I hours of fun. Although it wouldn’t usually take this long for an adult to enjoy, Sway spent most of the time eating the bits I would cut to size for our walls/doors/roof etc. Needless to say, I’m warning you that making a cottage out of chocolate is far too deliciously easy to devour along the way! HOWEVER; the end result was so satisfying and the fact it can be kept in the fridge was music to my ‘Australian Summer Christmas’ ears! I highly recommend this beautiful book to anyone who wants to create ‘magic’ in the kitchen, it’s truly a one of a kind read!

2. SWEET by Women’s Weekly

I actually couldn’t handle my excitement when I saw this book hit the shelves. The cover alone screams ‘BUY ME, I’M AMAZING’ with it’s pink everything (I’m serious, even the page edges are pink!). It features recipes from cake idol - Katherine Sabbath, the wonderful Pana Chocolate, Glazed Doughnuts, Flour and Stone and of course Pure Pops! With a line up like this I was destined to never put it down! This book is so unique right from its photography and styling, to its special contributors, everything is perfectly placed, arranged and ready to be enjoyed!

My most anticipated upcoming book treat …How can I only pick one!? I have devoured at least one of every author’s creations so far which makes picking my next subject so tough… However, being so unique like the book itself, I would have to say the ‘Watermelon Glazed Doughnuts with Minted Pistachio Crush’! This is a special number by Glazed Hand Crafted Doughnuts and it looks to-die-for. This recipe is definitely at the forefront of my mind (and fridge) and, if it’s not on yours, I suggest you put it and the entire pretty-in-pink book on your Christmas list today! I promise you won’t regret it!

3. Tanya Bakes

One of my favourite lifestyle blogs to follow is created by the beautiful Tanya Burr. She is an inspiration in so many ways and of course (like she could get any better) she bakes! Her recipes are delicious and I’ve baked and devoured more than I care to admit! The recipes are homely, delicious and consistent. Each bake worked beautifully and, with snippets of her life intertwined throughout the pages, I feel as if I’ve read it back to front at least 384 times.

My favourite bake to date… Sticky Toffee Pudding! You have to buy this book just to get your hands on these babies fresh out of your oven… they are moist, smothered in rich sauce and totally delicious.

A dream of mine is to one day launch my very own cookbook, for the sugar lovers out there who are just like me and can’t ever get enough! If you have a favourite book at the moment that’s filled with all things sweet, then I’d love to hear about it – my stocking could definitely handle some more presents squishing their way in and I’m sure my husband would love some gift ideas – haha!

Brogen x