Mary Berry (1) (1935–)

Mary Berry was brought up in Bath where her father was mayor. She is very frank about the fact that she was not a studious child and didn't do well in school. Her parents were worried about her and quite relieved when, as a teenager, she excelled in Home Economics classes. She went on to study what we now call hospitality management.

Her autobiography continues from those early years of her career through today. She has developed recipes for magazines, appeared on cooking shows on television show more and radio, taught cooking classes and published over 70 books on cooking and baking. She also tells about her courtship with Paul, her husband of fifty years, and their children.

It is her spirit that makes Berry so engaging. Although she has certainly known difficult times, she had polio as a child and one of her children died in an accident at 19, she kept moving forward. She is currently 81 and still open to new experiences. A very refreshing and inspiring person! show less

I adore the Great British Bake Off, and one of the vital parts of that show is Mary Berry. She's a shrewd baker who provides thoughtful, considerate critiques, and is best known for her judgment of pies with soggy bottoms. I was delighted when my mom bought this cookbook for me for Christmas. Mary has published scads of cookbooks in the UK, but this is the only one released in the States with American-standard measurements.

I had permission from my mom to not wrap this gift, but to utilize it show more for the holidays. Therefore, on Christmas Eve, I made Mary's recipe for double-crust apple pie, which also used her recipe for rough puff pastry. It was different than my usual apple pies--the apples are softened on the stove top, which drains off a lot of juice--but the resulting pie was good. It was less sugary than our American-style apple pies, usually loaded with caramel or spices, but it really emphasized the apple and the pastry together. Plus, it did NOT have a soggy bottom.

There are a bunch of other recipes I'm eager to try, too, such as choux pastry (a total failure the one time I tried it years ago), chocolate muffins and cakes, an apple tart, and a Swiss roll. I don't think Mary Berry will steer me wrong! show less

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

I adore Mary Berry. I loved her when she was on the Great British Bake Off, and I have a previous cookbook of hers as well. This republication of one of her classic cookbooks incorporates American measures and includes recommendations for swaps for British ingredients, such as light corn syrup for golden syrup.

I was thrilled to get an early chance at this cookbook. I will say straight-up that this is not a one for beginners, nor is it organized to be show more approachable for beginners. After an introduction loaded with baking advice and equipment explanations, the very first recipe is a British standard, a Victoria Sandwich. The book overall feels cake-heavy, but there's a wide range of complication involved. To put it in Bake Off terms, many of the recipes tend toward Show Stoppers, with a number also presenting a Technical Challenge. Not that this is a bad thing. The variety here looks incredible, and I'd volunteer to taste test pretty much everything.

Some of the recipes that I most want to make are Crunchy Top Lemon Cake, Special Shortbread Cookies, Millionaire Shortbread (probably one of my all-time favorite desserts), and Bakewell Slices.

My biggest criticism of the book is that maybe only half of the recipes have photographs. More than one recipe I found intriguing but I really wanted to see it to know if it truly was of interest. Alas.

I still find this a solid cookbook for someone who loves Bake Off, Mary Berry, and wants to challenge themselves with recipes from one of the great bakers of the modern era. show less

Precisely what I look for in a cookbook

I love this book for many reasons. It is well laid out so it's easy to see at a glance what a recipe requires in ingredients and time involved. More importantly, the recipes themselves are largely possible with ingredients most cooking people already have. The value of the dish is brought out not by exotic materials, but by the preparation and cooking techniques. Love it. And, of course, Mary Berry's pleasantness is infused in all pages, wafting at you show more with every turn. show less