Pascale - Bake: 125 show-stopping recipes, made simple

I fell in Love with baking at an early age, although Im not sure if it was baking that I loved at first, or the joy of eating raw dough before it hit the oven! Growing up with the nickname Hollow Legs, I have always loved to eat, and would consume copious amounts of food whenever and wherever possible. My anticipation of visiting friends was based purely on how much there would be to eat whether it was egg sandwiches followed by shortbread biscuits at Traceys house, or digestive biscuits and squashed fly biscuits at Tammys house. Sometimes, it would be chocolate digestive biscuits at home. I would hold up the chocolate biscuits as close as I could to the two-bar electric heater in the corner of the living room, chocolate side facing the orange glowing bars. My trick was to hold it there for as long as possible, until the chocolate started going shiny and sliding down the biscuit, and then to blow on it gently and slowly lick the chocolate off, being sure to catch any on my fingers. Finally, creeping into the kitchen, I would throw the naked biscuit in the bin under rubbish so I wouldnt be found out, reach into the tin for another chocolate-covered beauty, and start all over again!

It was during my first year of school that I realized I could actually bake myself. When I was five years old, my beautiful primary school teacher Mrs Tutton announced that we would have a baking day at school. She gave us a list of the ingredients wed need to bring along, weighed out in a tin. I remember skipping home as fast as I could and waiting patiently for my mum to wake up from her sleep after working nights. Pacing up and down with excitement, I decided to take the matter into my own hands, and started weighing the ingredients. Soon I was covered in flour, icing sugar, jam and butter, and the kitchen was turned inside out. My mother came thundering down the stairs at the cacophony ... needless to say, things did not end well and I was sent upstairs in a floury, blubbering mess after being reprimanded for waking her up and making the kitchen look as if little elves had thrown a baking party!

Despite the false start, the next day I headed to school with a battered old tin full of the ingredients, as happy as Larry. One of the most vivid moments of my childhood is carefully unwrapping each ingredient, putting it into the bowl and listening with much more interest than usual as we creamed, sieved, mixed and dolloped the ingredients into each other, onto the tray and into the oven. I licked the bowl clean and decided at that moment that baking was a very good thing to do.

Bake for pleasure

I recently tweeted about baking and asked what it means to people, and similar messages came back over and over again: we do it on the weekends or in our spare time, when we are feeling low, when we want to relax, when we want to make others happy. And that is what baking is for me. People have theorized that baking must be replacing some kind of missing ingredient from my very challenging past, but I dont see it like that. With so many of us feeling disconnected in this world of stress, social media and quick fixes, baking is something that cannot be rushed. It needs time and gives us a chance to slow down and be in the moment.

Baking has recently enjoyed a renaissance on our TV screens. The secret to its success is that baking is not a fad, or a passing phase. There will forever be a birthday, wedding or even an office party where baking can take centre stage. The TV shows have simply reminded us of the beauty of baking and how it can bring us together, and I just love that idea. I developed #bakeandshare on my social media so that bakers can share their creations with an online community. I like to repost the incredible bakes on my social media channels so we can all ooh and aah at their beauty. I think that this sharing element is so important, both with loved ones and online. We are more connected than ever on social media, but true, authentic connections are becoming fewer by the day. I believe there are few things that can connect people in the way that baking can.

Bake with a twist

I know lots of you have many baking bibles lining your shelves, written by well-known TV chefs, famous writers and bloggers. I do too. Therefore, I wanted to create a book that was unique in its offering and that would complement the books you already have. There are many classic recipes in the book that are must-haves in any bakers repertoire, but I have given them something a little different to widen your baking horizons and get that wow factor.

These are aspirational and achievable recipes that can take you step by step through the baking process, giving you bakes that are fresh, delicious and stunning. Ive updated some old classics such as Battenberg cake, giving you a chocolate and espresso flavour and a striking finish (see Chocolate espresso and almond Battenburg cake, ).

Bake like a pro

People always ask me how to improve at baking. The first thing I always say is to use the best ingredients you can afford organic really is the best, but it is also very expensive. I would suggest that if you have fresh fruit in your recipe, then it is definitely worth spending extra money on it, but there is no need to spend lots on fancy butter regular butter works just fine as long as it is butter, not margarine. To keep things simple, all of the recipes in the book use salted butter and medium-sized eggs unless they state otherwise. Id also say that weighing ingredients accurately is a big, fat baking must.

If you are vegan, you may wish to try egg replacers there are lots on the market and some work better than others, so its a case of trial and error to get the right balance. I really love Doves gluten-free flour, as it works so well in many recipes. If you are looking for tasty gluten-free pastry, I would suggest using one of my recipes (see ), or as a shortcut I have seen some really good gluten-free ready-made pastries in the supermarket.

It sounds obvious, but it is really important to follow the recipe to the letter dont freestyle on anything, from tin size and shape to oven temperature, ingredients or technique. There are many different techniques in the book: creaming, mixing, piping, folding pastry and whipping up meringues. Take your time to read the instructions something that I am not always so good at, being a little impatient at times! If you are trying a completely new technique for the first time, my advice is to take your time over it, and remember that its okay not to get things right immediately. Always leave more time than you think youll need, and unless the recipe states otherwise, you can even bake the day before you want to serve. I have avoided giving preparation times as we all work at a different pace at baking school, they called me the galloping gourmet, which would delight the teachers, although I would leave a big old mess in my wake!

For truly show-stopping results, dont forget the presentation. There are so many things that can make your creations stand out. If you want a quick and easy decoration tip, then fresh flowers work wonders! You can also use some simple piping effects on top, or sprinkle over a little grated chocolate.