Bibliobites in April: The Kind Worth Baking
May 21, 2024 Book Groups Library Staff
In April our Bibliobites group veered into less-familiar territory with a fiction title that serendipitously dovetailed with Chelmsford's One Book selection, The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson. Our equally murderous title, The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell, appropriately has cooking (in this case, a baking contest) at its heart. Many of us have become devotees of the popular TV series, The Great British Baking Show, and the novel follows a very similar situation, with a number of twists, of course. In the book, the long-running Bake Week gathers six amateur bakers at the Vermont estate of Betsy Martin, "America's Grandmother" and host/judge of the contest. Things become deadly in short order, and in Agatha Christie fashion, the group of bakers, the judges, and the TV crew are all suspects. Even more interestingly, the reader doesn't know who the victim is until the last quarter of the book. Who gets done in, and whodunit? And why?
If you've watched The Great British Baking Show, then you're already familiar with some of the characters in this book. The fictional Bake Week host, Betsy Martin, and her newly imposed sidekick, Archie Morris, bear an uncanny resemblance to Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood of GBBS fame. The amateur bakers also display some characteristics of GBBS contestants: the young, ambitious baker; the sweet grandmother; the nervous newbie. Though we didn't find the contestants to be unpleasantly stereotypical, they were recognizable tropes. Each chapter was narrated by a different character, which could get a bit confusing; but overall we liked the structure of the book, with its different voices and both victim and killer revealed near the end. We thought some of the characters could have been developed more, but usually a mystery is mostly about the plot, and this book was no exception.
We did wonder if real-life TV cooking contests (is that an oxymoron?) feature the drama and/or sabotage portrayed in the book. And we really wondered where the recipes were! It was disappointing that no recipes were included for any of the beautifully described mouthwatering bakes. One group member did discover a site with a recipe for layered blueberry buckle, which features prominently in the plot. No one tried it, but it sounds absolutely delicious! When we put it to a vote, we averaged out to a 3.5 (out of a possible 5) for this title. That's enough to keep us tuned in for a possible sequel.
As mentioned, there were no recipes in The Golden Spoon. For those who wished to try their hand at baking some British delights, there were two titles available: The Great British Bake Off: Perfect Cakes & Bakes to Make at Home, or The Great British Baking Show: A Bake For All Seasons. Both include iconic bakes and updated classics, and savory choices in addition to the sweet. A Bake For All Seasons was definitely a book full of very elaborate, special-occasion desserts, and no one in the group attempted anything. Perfect Cakes & Bakes, though it certainly had many "fancy" treats in it, was much more approachable. So we did try a few things: 
posh granola bars were a hit; they contained puffed rice cereal which made the texture pleasantly light and upped the crunch factor. Though they were fairly sweet, this was offset by a healthy dose of savory nuts and seeds. They kept well, too. Greek lemon-yoghurt loaf cake would be perfect for teatime (or anytime) with its sturdy texture and bright lemon flavor. Almond flour added a touch of nuttiness and subtle grit. As a bonus, it was a one-bowl cake that didn't even require a mixer. On the less successful side, easy espresso traybake had "too many steps to be called easy." And, unfortunately, the coffee flavor didn't come through, though plentiful chocolate was a tasty compensation. The ganache icing in particular was rich and luscious; but still, "I don't think I would make again." Pecan shorties were, sadly, "absolutely awful." They were much too dry, and had the wrong texture for a shortbread-ish cookie. Our intrepid baker took them to a church function, where she prayed they would get eaten!
One downside of both books is that they use metric measurements, and for those without a kitchen scale or liquid measures without milliliter markings, this involved a lot of web searching for equivalents. Many cookbooks will show both sets of measurements, but these don't. Photos were plentiful and well done; for devotees of GBBS, Perfect Cakes & Bakes features photos and bios of contestants from the 2016 season, as well as dreamy pictures of the contest's verdant location. Since we had two different books, and only a few people used either, we didn't rate the cookbooks. Perfect Cakes & Bakes was clearly the more approachable of the two, so if you need to get your British fix, or you need a winter baking project, either title might fit the bill. They're both a fun read, too.
Please join us at our next meeting on Friday May 31 at 11 AM in the Fireplace Room. We'll be discussing Chinese-ish by Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu. Copies are available at the main circulation desk or via curbside pickup. See you there!