Cover Image: The Flexible Baker

The Flexible Baker

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Member Reviews

I didn't even know there was a Flexible series before I found this book and what a pleasant surprise!

I love baking and baking to share is my joy and love language, however, some of my friends and neighbors/recipients are allergic to certain ingredients and have strict diet restrictions, so finding this book was such a relief and saved me a lot of time and effort in searching for recipes to fit everyone's needs. This book doesn't have a lot of recipes nor cover wide varieties of baked goods (at least for my taste), but it definitely has enough baked goods to suit every dietary requirements. I'm a very visual person and enjoy looking at pictures especially in cookbooks, so wish this cookbook had more pictures, but that's just me :)

If you're looking for a book with flexible adaptations that can create delightful baked goods to cater to various dietary needs or lifestyle choices, try this book.

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This is packed full of really good recipes, The one i tried needed some adjustment with the cooking time but next will be worth making again. Lots of great photos of the foods.

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You will learn how to cook biscuits, cookies, pastries, and even puddings and desserts!
The author has used buckwheat flour, coconut flour, polenta, nuts and seeds, milk, butter, caster sugar, brown sugar, demerara sugar, and muscovado sugar in her delicious recipes.
The recipes can be altered to make vegan, nut/sesame free, dairy, egg and gluten free for any preference you need.
The pictures make you want to prepare each delicacy - there are recipes for a salmon, dill and rye tart, chicken and chorizo sausage rolls, and even traditional Cornish pasties! The prep time is easy, but you must follow the directions exactly for a savoury meal!
The spiced sweet potato strudel looks delicious, the directions are detailed and a bit challenging but well worth it !

The golden vegetable patties are small, delicate , healthy and can be baked in the oven!

There are breakfast delicacies such as Breakfast Muesli loaf, sticky cinnamon rolls, and raspberry twists.

There are desserts such as all in one chocolate fudge cake, expresso and walnut cake, and even a gooey caramel and chocolate Multi - Millionaires shortbread!

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The photos included in this cookbook are beautiful and appealing. I'm sure it will be a wonderful addition for the members of our Cookbook Book Club and food-loving patrons.

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Ever wanted to bake but you need it to be gluten-free or vegan or just don't like the fillings then this is the book for you. Every recipe has a section in it called Flexible and depending on the recipe it might be to make it vegan or gluten-free or to have a flavor swap. For example on the Irish Soda Bread, if you are vegan Pratt recommends swapping the dairy milk with oat milk and it will behave the same with the lemon juice for the souring effect. If the alteration requires different cooking times or degrees she provides that as well. The Pavlova is a great example, if you want vegan pavlova she tells you not just what in each element needs to be swapped but what needs to change in the cooking process as well.
This book includes everything from breads to cookies and cakes to pastries but if you prefer salty to sweet the book starts with savory items from rolls and pasties to tarts and scones. There are so many items I cannot wait to bake and while I do not have any specific dietary restrictions I look forward too some vegan variations and I think I might start with the dairy-free vegetarian Sweet Potato and Chestnut Cornish Pasties.

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This is the first cookbook I have seen that has the “basic” recipe printed out with pictures and tips for the “flexible” version which allows the recipe to be vegan, gluten-free, etc. for each and every recipe. I was very impressed with the amount and variety of recipes that were offered and the dietary index for each.

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I like that this book gives options for different dietary needs. Each recipe is already labelled as vegan, nut/sesame-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and/or gluten-free. Then they have the flexible box for ways to modify for other needs.

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I was interested in this book because I love to bake and choose not to consume animal products. I was disappointed that the first 2 recipes feature salmon and chicken. Other recipes also feature meat. I was expecting all the recipes would have vegan options, but they don't. As I perused the rest of the recipes, I noticed some missing, very easy, swaps to make the recipe vegan. For example, the white bread contains butter, but no mention of simply using a plant-based butter for a vegan loaf.

There is a good range of recipes here. I did find a few it's like to try, but if you're vegan, I'd say to borrow this from your local library newfie purchasing.

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

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I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a nice baking book!

I wish there were more pictures, but the ones included are nice. There's a variety of recipes listed in both cups and grams and there are modifications included to make things gluten free which is helpful. These recipes are largely versatile and have easy to follow instructions.

This is a nice book to flip through and find some sweet treats.

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This was my first read in the Flexible series and I very much enjoyed it. The substitutions both sounded delicious and made sense! The cookbook was organized nicely, explained well, and will surely be a well-loved cookbook for many. My only "con" with the book is that I personally would not use it very often. Blame it on my American heritage, but I don't see making puddings in my future! Bakers that feel quite confident in the kitchen will adore this book 100%.

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The Flexible Baker is a total revelation!

This is a great resource for tweaking recipes to to make them vegan-friendly, gluten / dairy / nut-free. It is so simple and time-saving and takes the stress out of baking dishes for food intolerances.

The photographs throughout the book of the baked goods looks great and very appetising. The recipes are divided into baking categories including: Breads; Cakes and Traybakes; Biscuits and Cookies; Pastries; Puddings and Desserts.

I particularly liked the fact that the recipes themselves are very straightforward and that it is just a case of switching out a couple of ingredients at most to make them suitable for people with food intolerances or who are following a plant-free diet.

I made the All-in-one chocolate fudge cake flexibly - making changes to make it dairy-free. The cake turned out really well and I can’t wait to try other recipes!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, for the ARC for a fair and honest review.

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I had not heard of 'The Flexible Series' before so was very interested to check this one out.

So from the start this is a book that helps you bake, helps you become a better baker as it provides you with all the information you need to get started. Then the recipes come along and you read then and think 'Yes, I can make that'. The ingredients are getable, the recipes are doable and the results are eatable!

Need I say more? I loved this book and am working my way thorough the recipes as we speak. Quick Soda bread worked well with some soup. YUM! Chipotle and Cheddar Cornbread was perfect with my Chilli Con Carne and the White Chocolate and Tahini Blondies are to die for..

A great book and one I will go out and buy so I can continue to bake, bake and bake some more.

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This one pick up my attention since I/m have been taking an interesting in baking and it has so many wonderful recipes.

What I liked best of this one was the array of things you can actually bake in an oven like I want to try breakfasts, lunch and dinners and it even has desserts too i think my oven will find at last its second life.

The muesli bread it’s so interesting really I think that’s the first one I want to try for breaksfast.

This one it’s very cool totally recommended if you want to try new things.

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Beautiful cookbook with some gorgeous photos. Besides the recipes, there's a flexible option below them if you want it to be gluten free, vegan, dairy-free, vegetarian or nut-free. There are recipes for breads, cakes and traybakes, biscuits and cookies, pastries, puddings and desserts. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

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I do not like baking very much because I am not the type of person to follow recipes to the letter. I have a tendency to swap things around, use ingredients I prefer, add a spice or fruits here and there, speed up the cooking method and that is terrible for baking which is sooo precise in method, timing and measurements. So when I saw this cookbook I knew this was for me!
I need forgiving recipes and alternative suggestions, and this book provides. The list of alternative ingredients is impressive and the options offered are rather nice too.
There is quite a big list of breads that I know I won't use, I'm a lazy family cook, so I mainly go for the 24h no-knead bread base for all the loafs I make, even my pizzas. I like the cake and the pastry section though, you find all the classics in there so no one will get lost, and it will make it so much easier when you cook for vegan or gluten-intolerant friends.

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A must for those of us with, or catering towards, specific dietary requirements.

With sections dedicated to breads, pastries, puddings/desserts, cakes/traybakes and more, it features a whole host of deliciousness sure to inspire and delight. Photography is on point - the lemon and blackberry layer cake photo being a personal favourite - simply stunning!

Of course, what really sets this book apart is the easy, at a glance classification as to whether a recipe is gluten free, dairy free, nut free etc. For some (but not all) recipes suggestions are made as to substitutions that work to make the recipe suitable to exclude additional allergens.

Overall, a lovely, and delightfully inclusive, recipe book that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

My thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

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Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback. I like to read cooking/baking guides, and I requested this one specifically because I am interested in alternative baking. I have certain health needs, so it's always a helpful to learn new ways to meet nutritional needs.

This book has sweet & savories, cakes, biscuits, cookies, pastries, puddings, etc. Each page has dietary information and indicates if they are gluten free, nut free, diary free, etc.

There are a lot of different types of foods included. I think most of them are straight forward dishes that everyone has probably come across at some point, so this makes the cookbook doable and accessible. The alternative health needs transform the traditional way of preparing a particular food, for example making a chocolate cake vegan.

The photographs were creative and high quality. The layout was easy to follow and there wasn't any superfluous information bogging down the pages.

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This is a beautifully executed cookbook full of wonderfully English type bakes. The author has been kind enough to include US and Metric measurements for all the recipes. This cookbook has some very intriguing recipes such as Smoky Bacon Scones with Salted Maple Butter, Sourdough for the Impatient, Chocolate Truffle Cake, Key Lime Cream Puffs, Mint Chocolate Chip Puddle Cakes (or lava cakes as we know them in the US), and much more! The most interesting part of this cookbook is that the author offers options and substitutions to adapt for dietary requirements with simple swaps of ingredients and she has other published cookbooks offering this same “flexible recipe” concept! Every recipe includes a dietary index to indicate gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free and vegan. There is a good variety of sweet and savory bakes to choose from and the photographs are simply lovely. Publication date is April 12, 2022.

Thank you Netgalley, Quarto Publishing Group/White Lion, and Jo Pratt for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

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