Need some pudding and cakes ideas? Look to Leon

Recently I have been doing more 'leisure' cooking.  By leisure I mean more than the standard evening meal for the family, something extra, something special more of a treat - well it is nearly Christmas after all!

One book that I have been using recently is the Leon Baking & Puddings cookbook that was sent to me by the lovely people at Octopus Publishing. The Baking & Puddings book is the third in the Leon collection.

Loving the retro feel of the book

So who are Leon? Well as well as being a range of fantastically well designed cookbooks featuring mouthwatering photo's, handy tips and techniques and of course delicious recipes, they are also Leon Restaurants - a chain of 11 London based restaurants that have a website that looks as tantalising as the cookbooks!

I love the feel of the book, its photo snapshots of the authors and founders and their families and the retro design.  It isn't your typical cookbook with a photo of a bowl of noodles on the front - no siree!

Unique design for a friendly feel

The recipes (and the restaurants) are 'founded on the belief that food should taste good and do you good' The book incorporates a large selection of recipes that are either wheat, dairy or sugar free with a good amount of Vegan and Vegetarian options as well as gluten free.  The aim is to show that good and sometimes indulgent cooking can also be served without 'the side-helping of guilt'.  Sounds good to me!

This section made me giggle out loud, not usual when reading a cookbook.

I loved the format of the book, and the First Aid section (For what to do when it goes wrong) had me visualising accidents with potato peelers and fingers and other kitchen accidents.  No need for my worry as it was first aid for your cooking accidents. Just one of the quirky and unique things about this book.

The book is divided into 2 parts, with part 1 being everyday recipes and part 2 more celebratory offerings.  The 2 parts are preceded by a very well thought out introduction incorporating: a guide to ingredients, Tools, tips & techniques and Baking with alternatives.  The guide to ingredients was fairly straightforward and the tools and tips part was comprehensive featuring a handy visual guide to baking dishes and for those with food intolerances to anyone cooking for people with special dietary requirements the baking with alternatives guide was very helpful.

There was a huge selection of recipes featured in the book and many that I had not come across before.  The cooking with children selection was a nice touch.

The photography is very good and I particularyly liked recipes that showed you the process in photographs (more of these types of cooking sequence photo's would have been nice) and again are another well thought out design feature making this more than another cookbook.

Whether you are looking to buy a recipe book for your own use or as a gift the Leon series may just be exactly what you are looking for.  I only wish I lived in London to try out the restaurant but for now I will indulge in some of my own Leon cookery at home.
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