Joanna Farrow

Very fun to read through. The only recipe I made was the "Lightning bolt cheese bites," which needed more liquid than the recipe said in order to come together enough to roll out. (However, it would be easy to use the lightning bolt shape to make gingerbread or sugar cookies instead.) "Sword kebabs" (fruit skewers) could also be a fun presentation.

Meh. Beautiful photos, artfully staged, but that's to be expected from the author, who is a self-described food writer and stylist in the UK. Most of the recipes required two pages of instructions and quite a bit of experience. Thoughts of caterers came to mind as I read along; this is a great reference for pros who want to wow clients requesting Doctor Who-themed cakes, treats, and snacks. For rank and file fans, however, this book isn't as "perfectly approachable" as promised by Joanna show more Farrow's introduction. show less

Gingerbread cookies are a scrumptious Christmas holiday treat, but with Joanna Farrow's book, Dress Your Gingerbread: Bake Them! Dress Them! Eat Them!, you can enjoy them any time of the year. Farrow begins with a simple recipe that makes four cookies. The instructional chapters include step-by-step instructions with photos to illustrate the techniques. Each different cookie features ingredients, directions, and equipment needed to create it; plus, each has a large full-color photograph you show more can refer to.

The Bottom Line: Have fun with gingerbread any time of the year by choosing different costumes to dress your cookies in. This book is chock full of ideas for cookies the little ones will love to eat. Choose from insects, animals, fairy tale creatures, and traditional holiday themes (I'm partial to the cute dinosaur myself). Also, the book includes templates and a source list. My only suggestion is that the information on Useful Equipment should have been placed first so that bakers can gather all the necessary tools. Enthusiastically recommended for bakers with moderate to advanced experience because fondant can be tricky.

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog: http://minibookbytes.blogspot.com/ show less

Containing ingredient lists and clear instructions for each recipe, along with plenty of photos (of food and from the movie), this is enjoyable to page through. There's a lot of decoration, and I imagine it would be frustrating for younger kids to try to make their recipes look like the ones in the pictures.

Interested in making the chessboard squares, Hagrid's rock cakes, wizard hats, and Hogwarts castle in gingerbread.