Review: The Happy Baker by Erin Bolger
Reviewed by Jen K.
The biggest difference between The Happy Baker and other cookbooks is the humor. Up until now, I didn’t own a single cookbook that I would have described as funny. And now I do. What do you do when your love life isn’t exactly panning out? Grease up your baking pans, don a cute apron and drown your sorrows in butter and chocolate. Roast some nuts, lick the condensed milk lid (oh, come on, we all do it) and start the healing process. According to Erin Bolger: dating is hard – baking isn’t supposed to be.
Erin spins some great yarns about her dating disasters, from first crush to being the last single girl standing. She begins with her awkward teen years, through her first real relationship, then onto some dating shenanigans where she looks for love in every possible avenue, including all the wrong ones. Erin’s self deprecating humor makes me feel as though we are all pulling for her, but laughing really hard at the same time. The recipes are named for the situations, with titles like Goodbye Men, Hello Dolly Squares and Internet Dating Fondue.
The Happy Baker is much more than just a book of funny dating encounters – it’s also a kick butt baking book. Do not expect pages and pages of romance writing with a stray recipe tucked in here and there. The baked goods definitely take center stage with big, beautiful, full color photographs of every single one! Erin offers up a host of over sixty terrific 
looking recipes – gorgeous biscotti (gingerbread, chocolate or toffee), amazing brownies and blondies, cupcakes, breads, and a host of cookies stare back from the pages. I love the presentation – bold type, gigantic photos and simple instructions.
Considering Erin Bolger’s baking repertoire, she has no business being single. Check our four sample recipes here, including the divine Sea Salted Caramels.
Jen lives in Michigan with her husband and six year old son. She writes reviews of children’s books on her blog, FIRR-Kids and loves filling her shelves with cookbooks.
This book was provided free of any obligation by Harlequin. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
Category: Cooking, Food, Wine, Entertainment, For the Cook, Gift Ideas, Nonfiction
how do you get this FaBulous cookbooks?!! i am already in pursuit of this book just with your description! the cover doesn’t hurt it any either!
but the humourous romance stories WITH recipes of perfection? this is one delish food + FuN manual!
thanks for the excellent review!!
I want this books soooo bad.!!!! So baad! I want to get it, my Borders doesn’t have it
Oh, this sounds like a great cookbook. I love to bake, so I’ll definitely have to check this one out. Thanks for the review.
Emily O recently posted..Cassandra Rising – edited by Alice Laurence
I just received this cookbook last week-the humor of the book was the first aspect that grabbed my attention along with the sketches. I love the way she has named her recipes. Have you made any of the recipes? I also like that there are photos of all the recipes.
This sounds awesome! So often cookbooks are good to leaf through or grab and turn to the exact page needed for a specific recipe, but I love the idea of a cookbook you can actually read through! You get two great things in one: a laugh and something yummy
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Oh. Em. Gee. I must get my hands on this, haha … I absolutely LOVE baking. And my Mum & I have collected cookbooks – new and old – for years and years now, always on the lookout for The Next Addition … This sounds right up my alley: Adorable cover, fun title, baking recipes, and fun stories to go with all the goodness