Smart Denise. DK: The Children's Baking Book

DK Children, 2010. — 128 p. — ISBN10: 0756657881, ISBN13: 978-0756657888Age Range: 7 - 12 years
Grade Level: 2 - 7With easy-to-follow step by step instructions sure to inspire children to bake up brownies, breads, pastries, muffins, cookies, cakes, and more, the Children's Baking Book features more than fifty fabulous recipes guaranteed to stir any baker. Full-color photos of each tasty dish help kids understand what to do, and make it even easier to follow the fun recipes. With twists on old favorites and delicious new ideas, tips and advice on preparation and cooking, the Children's Baking Book will help budding chefs become brilliant bakers!Grade 4–8—Divided into four sections ("Cookies and Baked Goods," "Doughs," "Cakes," and "Pastries"), this volume has more than 50 recipes and an attractive and colorful design. The majority of the dishes are sweet, with several savories also included. Recipes are clearly labeled for difficulty, prep time, and cooking time. In addition, there are safety tips, cleanliness advice, a decent glossary, and a spread with decoration ideas. Variations are given for many of the dishes, a feature that might spark individual creativity. The wonderful photographs clearly show many of the steps of the sometimes complicated but tasty-looking recipes. With so much going for it, it's too bad that a close look reveals some detail problems. In the front matter, the author states that the recipes provide both Imperial and metric measurements, which doesn't translate well in every case. For instance, the one for cornbread calls for 4 oz (125 g) of cornmeal or polenta. This leads to a volume vs. weight debate, and, since a kitchen scale is not specified in the list of tools needed, the cook might assume that it mean half a cup—or does it? Is white bread flour the same as white flour? Will a recipe for marble cake that's made in an eight-inch square cake pan really make 25 servings? Should a recipe for pizza dough that requires 7-10 minutes of kneading be labeled "Easy"? In any case, if you have Rose Dunnington's Bake It Up!