Guilt free Baking – Cookbook Review and Bourbon Biscuits

  Baking has become my new leisure time activity. I like to bake a lot as it requires less effort on our side to make delicious treat. Usually I prefer to make eggless bakes .

 I received  the book Guilt – Free Baking by Gee Charman from publisher Nourish books.

About the publisher :

 Nourish books is the book publishing company based in United Kingdom. They published many famous cookbooks. I thank them for sending me the guilt free baking cookbook.

About the Author

  Gee Charman was raised and educated in Berkshire . she finished her training  at Tante Marie. Soon after that she started cooking for Royal family at Kensington Palace. She also owns a catering company called Duck Duck Mousse doing dinner parties and weddings.

  She  is a great demand Home Economist for television shows such as Market kitchen , Lorraine , There’s No taste Like home , Daily cooks and Britain’s Best Dish. She has worked under Gordan Ramsay , Hairy Bikers , Gino D’Acampo , Simon Rimmer , Jun Tanaka , Paul Merrett , James Martin and many more.

            

About the book :

  The book comprises of Low – Calorie and low fat sweet treats. The book begins with a introduction from the author about her sweet tooth and her interest in low calorie and low fat desserts.

 The book was divided into seven sections.

Then a section for basic recipes like berry coulis , apple puree , pear puree , pavlova , meringues, guilt free shortcrust pastry  and so on .

 Above all the recipes I liked the instant guilt – free banana ice cream with just three ingredients. It is a must try recipe.

 The next section consists of cupcakes, muffins and small cakes begins with Victoria sponge cupcakes to go fruity muffins to pumpkin puffs.

The next section is for biscuits and cookies which comprises Lime fingers , Jaffa cakes to oats coconut cookies and so on.

 Then comes the tray bakes which consists of fruity flapjacks to Jamaican Gingerbread , blondies and Chocolate beetroot brownies.

  Next was the Tart and pies section which has my favorite French apple tart  , other fruit tarts  , fruit pies , cobbler and crumbles.

 Next section consists of meringue Nest  , meringue Roulade , swiss roll and passion fruit mille Feuille.

 At the end of the book the large cakes section  which has Rhubarb cake , orange polenta cake  , Lemon Tofu cheese cake and so on.

I want to try my hands on each and every recipe , so far I made Instant Guilt free ice cream and Bourbon Biscuits.

Bourbon Biscuits are my favorite biscuit , I immediately decided to make these biscuits when i go through the book.

Bourbon Biscuits

Makes 24 biscuits ( 12 servings )

FOR CHOCOLATE BISCUITS

40 g butter softened

50 g golden caster sugar + 1 tsp for sprinkling
1 tbs skimmed milk 
100g plain flour + extra for dusting
1 tbs corn flour 
3 tbs cocoa powder 
1/2 tsp baking powder 

FOR CHOCOLATE FILLING

2 tbs evaporated milk
1 tbs coffee essence
1 tbs cocoa powder 
75 g icing sugar 

  Preheat oven to 160 * C / 315 * F.
Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl  until light and creamy , then mix in the milk.
 stir in flour , cornflour , cocoa powder and baking powder  mix everything together really well until stiff.
wrap in cling film and chill in fridge for 10 minutes.
On a lightly floured work surface , roll out the dough into 3 mm thick.
Use a rectangular pastry cutter or a knife and ruler  to cut out 48 rectangles about 2 X 4 cm.
 Place the cut out biscuits on the baking tray , with a skewer make small indentation on half of the biscuits and sprinkle sugar on top.
Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until just firm  to touch. Transfer to wire rack and let it cool.

To make filling :

Put the evaporated milk , coffee essence and cocoa powder in a sauce pan over a low heat for a few minutes , stirring occasionally until melted and combined.
Beat in the icing sugar until  a thick paste is formed and let it cool.

Spoon the filling to the piping bag. Take the plain biscuits and squeeze a small line of the filling mixture on the centre. Place the biscuit with sugar sprinkle on top and press down lightly and leave to set.
Bourbon biscuits are ready to munch on.........



My verdict :
 Each recipe was clearly explained in step wise.

Each recipe is accompanied by a full page picture , the food photography and the styling was fabulous.

Each recipe has a column for fat and calorie count per serving along with cooking and preparation time.

Of all these all the recipes are low calorie and we can bake guilt free, it was a happy news for those on diet.

 This book was worth having to try all these delicious guilt free desserts. You can buy from the publisher , online book stores or in leading book stores.



Disclaimer :
This is not a paid review and all the views are my own.