Cookbook Showcase: Title is true, anyone can do it

In a nutshell: This cookbook from kitchen stalwart Better Homes and Gardens lives up to its name: Anyone Can Bake. The book provides step-by-step recipes plus lots of photos, descriptions and hints to turn the beginning cook into a confident baker.

Features: This cookbook is the next best thing to growing up with a home economist, although there’s no substitute to having a live person available to help with unexpected questions and problems. Each recipe is coded for the skill required. Most are level 1, meaning they can be prepared successfully even by people who can’t tell a spatula from a whisk.

The first chapter uses photos and text to introduce those and other pieces of baking equipment. It also clearly explains common ingredients, basic techniques and cooking terms.

Subsequent chapters provide additional instruction for specific types of recipes, from cookies to pie crusts. Within each recipe are references to the pages where a specific technique is explained and illustrated. The bottom of each recipe page also has an “Ask Mom” feature that covers potential questions.

The recipes include old standbys and newer favorites. Variations on some basic recipes are provided, such as 12 ways to dress up oatmeal cookies.

The collection is heavy on the desserts and sweets but includes some main dishes, breads and appetizers.

Pluses: The book follows the easy-to-use Better Homes and Gardens cookbook format — a hardcover binder with tabs separating each chapter. Loads of color photos make the book inviting and help the beginner figure out each recipe. The how-to information includes ideas for serving and storing.

Minuses: Printing the text over the photos makes the text hard to read in spots. Beginners may find it difficult to flip back and forth between a recipe and the pages that explain an unknown technique.

We tried: Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

The verdict: The bars were a hit at a holiday gathering. The recipe, labeled as skill level 1, was indeed easy to make. The hardest part was cutting the bars without making a mess, one technique unfortunately not explained in the recipe.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com

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