Victoria Prever

I’m a huge fan of Nigel’s books. This was one that I’ve been back to time and time again and still refer to. I love the simplicity.

Her first book and one I’ve grown up cooking from. I have most of her books but this is my oldest friend.

My go-to when I need any cake. I do look at the more recent cake books like Hummingbird and Primrose Bakery, but this has my heart.

I trained at Leith’s and my copy has lost both covers and is full of handwritten notes, plus my own recipes stapled onto what’s left of the front pages. A lot of basics and classics come from here.

I have three books by the wonderful Maria, whose flavours are superb. Her tomato, feta, almond and date baklava was the first savoury version I’d tried and I was hooked.

I totally love the fresh ingredients and Middle Eastern style of this book. One I return to regularly.

The King of dessert is one of my favourites. I love his ice cream recipe book too, so it was a toss up between them, but this had a slightly bigger range.

I could have chosen a few of this lovely man’s books. I love the first one as I’ve probably cooked more from it than any of the others. A classic.

I bought this book with a book voucher prize I won when I graduated from Leith’s. It’s an encyclopaedia of ingredients, and packed with useful information, from tips on how to store and prepare ingredients, to lists of other foods that the ingredient you are looking up goes with. There is a wide range of recipes for each one and a large introductory section on basic cooking methods. I could spend hours browsing and head to it when needing inspiration. Alexander is a national treasure in her native Australia and I love the antipodean influence.

These two Israeli chefs are totally without airs and graces and their books read like love stories. I love both books, but my sweet tooth could not leave this off my list.