Rebel Bakes: 80+ Deliciously Creative Cakes, Bakes and Treats For Every Occasion

 

Rebel Bakes is a wonderfully irreverent, very high energy, and beautifully exuberant book of baked cakes and goodies by George Hepher. Due out (outside the UK) 11th June 2024 from Hachette on their Greenfinch imprint, it's 224 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats. 

The author is very chatty and the writing is happy and *fun*. The non-recipe parts feel like a conversation with a good pal (over cocktails) who really knows about and is enthusiastic (in a good way) about something. He has learned or developed competency with the techniques and the recipes included in the volume are impressive, showy, and colorful. Very high wow factor. 

This is not an understated gran-approved repertoire. There are loads of chocolate laden treats, rainbow stuff, cheesecake variations and the glazes, sauces, and caramels to go along with them.

The actual book is logically arranged: an intro covering the basics (he has a lot of good info here, don't skip it), basics (caramels, sauces, drips), tray bakes, melt & pour type creations (he calls them Hob Jobs which made me snort), cookies & tarts, after dinner treats, and cakes (lots of *spectacular* very tall cakes here). Recipes are written with a fun description and often a background origin, ingredients in a bullet list, and step by step directions. Ingredient measures are given in standard metric with imperial (American) measurements by weight in parentheses. 

The photos are a standout of the collection. The author is a social media celebrity and -all- the items are beautifully styled and all have a lot of wow-factor. Instagram perfect in other words. Spelling and vernacular are British English throughout, but won't pose a problem in context for readers living elsewhere.

It shouldn't need to be specifically stated out loud, but here we are. The book is campy, fun, inclusive, and LGBTQIA+ friendly. 

Five stars. It would be a great selection for public library acquisition, home use, or gift giving. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes