Forum

Has anyone got any recommendations for baking books that yield smaller amounts? Every cake I see seems to serve 8-10. I can and do re-size but would love to have a book dedicated to smaller bakes inc. biscuits etc that doesn't involve a calculator and finger crossing with bake times. Thanks BTW I have the Edd Kimber titles.

Snacking Cakes (By Yossy Arefi) is full of recipes for single layer 8" square cakes, many of which include instructions to change it up to 9" round, loaf, bundt or cupcakes. I have also had good luck scaling her cakes a 6" round.  I have read alot about this online but wish I could find a hard copy book dedicated to 6" cakes.  Her newer title (Snacking Bakes) also includes a similar style cake chapter (single layer 8" x 8" cakes with various other pan options). This book also has chapters on cookies and bars/brownines Her recipes are mostly one bowl and really do come together quicky.   

Snackable Bakes (by Jessie Sheehan) also has some smaller sized desserts but is certainly not as dedicated to the idea of smaller yields as the above titles.  This one is organized by ingredient/flavour profile...chapters include nuts, fruit, chocolate, vanilla, sweet & salty etc.

Of course there are lots of EYB member notes available for a ll 3 titles to give you an idea :)

Question - are you happy with Kimber's Small Batch Bakes? I have it on my wishlist.

I have really enjoyed the small cakes in Little Everyday Cakes.

The sizes are perfect and the ease of having all the correct measurements already calculated is wonderful.

Added to my wish list - thanks for the info!

Although not a book of "Small bakes" Edd Kimber's fellow winner of The Great British Bake Off Nancy Birtwhistle has conversion tables in her book Sizzle and Drizzle to help scale cake mixes up or down to accommodate different sizes of cake tins. Similar tables are in Junior Bake Off judge Ravneet Gill's book The Pastry Chef's Guide. Using those tables might help to extrapolate the sizes down to small bakes range.

Small batch bakes is great, I like how he has a list of all the recipes that use egg yolks/whites (more books should do this). I have his other “one tin” books and often halve them and use an 8x8 pan with good results.

You may want to follow One Dish Kitchen on Facebook or go to her blog.  Her onedishkitchen.com website has numerous recipes.   "Cooking for One is All We Do" is the tagline.

What I also like is if her recipe uses one yolk or one white, she provides uses for the other half of that egg!  Many practical tips and she comes across as a very nice, helpful person.  Joanie has a cookbook which I have not purchased.  Whenever I want to downsize a recipe, I go to her site to see if she has already done so or to check out her tips for that type of a recipe. 

I was extremely happy with her Irish Soda Bread recipe earlier this month.