For decades, Mary Berry has been taking the stress out of home cooking and baking with her stellar cookbooks and TV shows. Now, she’s making the task of making a midweek meal or preparing for a party even simpler with her latest book and upcoming TV show, Mary Makes it Easy.
There’s lots to love about this brilliantly comprehensive cookbook, which covers everything from party canapés, to meat and veggie mains and hot and cold desserts, but here are some features we’re particularly excited about:
1. To make this cookbook as easy as possible to navigate, each recipe features one of six icons: One Pot, 5 Ingredients or Fewer, Prep Ahead, Quick Cook, Freezes Well, and For a Crowd. The chapters are also organised in a straightforward way, so whether you’re looking for light starters, beef, pork and lamb dishes, sides or puddings, you’ll know where to turn to.
2. As well as being packed with over 120 failsafe recipes, this book begins with tips on everything from seasoning your dishes to perfectly melting chocolate, and even advice on how to make your food shop more sustainable. You can also flip to the very back for a very helpful conversion chart, in case you’re switching between metric and imperial measurements.
3. If, like Mary, you find yourself cooking more and more vegetarian dishes at home, or if you simply want to cut down on your meat intake, this is the book for you. Mary Makes it Easy has a dedicated chapter on vegetable mains including Spiced Grilled Aubergine with Tahini Dressing, Roasted Vegetable Wellington, and Spinach Dahl, plus another for salads and sides, and plenty of recipes for vegetarian bakes and light bites.
4. Calling all sweet tooths! It wouldn’t be a Mary Berry cookbook without mouth-watering bakes. With three dedicated chapters covering baking recipes, cold desserts and hot puddings, you’ll find sweet treats like Elderflower and Lemon Traybake, Super Quick Raspberry Parfait, and Hot Chocolate Pudding with White Chocolate Cream.
5. If you’re searching for new recipes this Christmas, look no further. Mary Makes it Easy features festive bakes such as Bûche de Noël (French for yule log), Apple and Mincemeat Squares, and a Very Berry Christmas Fruit Cake, plus plenty of crowd-pleasing canapés and sharing platters to keep your family and party guests happy.
