My Sweet Kitchen by Linda Lomelino is a recipe book that will have you baking up a storm. I was first drawn to this one for its gorgeous cover and the fact that Lomelino shares some of her photography tips in the book. If you are anything like me, taking pictures for social media or the blog is a struggle. This book is a really useful guide to anyone wishing to learn baking basics and how to capture images of the process with ease in a genuinely kind and forgiving manner.
Title: My Sweet Kitchen: Recipes for Stylish Cakes, Pies, Cookies, Donuts, Cupcakes and MoreAuthor: Linda Lomelino
Publisher: Roost Books
Genres: Cookbook, Lifestyle
Publication Date: February 7, 2017
Rating:
The world of desserts has never been more delicious, or more elegantly styled. With Linda Lomelino as your baking muse, your kitchen just got a whole lot sweeter.
With an offset spatula laden with buttercream in one hand and a camera in the other, Linda Lomelino has made her mark as one of the most exciting recipe creators and food photographers in the world. My Sweet Kitchen, Linda's third cookbook, is bursting with many of her favorite recipes for cookies, cakes, pies, cupcakes, donuts, spoon desserts, and other sweet delights.
Linda's desserts are renowned for their elegant blend of classic flavor combinations and unexpected style. Along with nearly 50 original recipes, the book also contains three chapters chock-full of tips on how to bake, decorate, style, and photograph your own creations at home.
Linda Lomelino openheartedly shares her secrets for successful baking, telling us what we should always keep in our well-stocked pantries for best results. What should we prioritize when baking complex cakes? Is it best to use a kitchen scale to weigh ingredients? (Hint: "accurate measurements" and "yes"!) With her trademark atmospheric photographs, every recipe in the book comes to life. Linda also shows us how to pipe icing, frost cakes, decorate with edible flowers, style food to be shared (and "liked") on social media, and even how to tell if we should invest in a new camera to take food photography to the next level. If you have even the slightest sweet tooth, this book will hook you.
❃ I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ❃
Review: My Sweet Kitchen by Linda Lomelino
My Sweet Kitchen by Linda Lomelino is filled with beautiful photos that will make the reader both drool and become excited to get baking and styling. Lomelino walks through some of her photographs in the book and describes in detail the process to go from a good photo to an eye-popping masterpiece. Her method is so laid back and she gives her readers permission to make mistakes, which is comforting to me because I make lots of them! I am not about to say that my pictures are gorgeous, but I do feel as though I have made some improvements with her suggestions.
❀ Simple and Quick
These yummy blueberry bars have actually become one of my favourite new go-to desserts. They are so easy to make and are basically a tea biscuit with fruit. I have made them a couple of times now and I love that they satisfy my sweet tooth in a simple and quick recipe.
❀ Amazing dulce de leche recipe
First off, I am going to say that I have never used dulce de leche before and I am a new fan. I have always used basic caramel sauce as a topping for ice cream, but this incredible sauce made from condensed sweetened milk is so decadent. These cookies have a hint of cinnamon, white and dark chocolate as well. The recipe only makes a few cookies, but they are definitely worth the effort. I also used Lomelino’s tips for adding movement in a food picture. The recipe for these is over on her blog, if you would like to give these a try!
❀ Effortless Recipes
These chocolate cupcakes are effortless to create and use ingredients that are typically on hand. While Lomelino provides a wonderful tutorial on how to pipe designs onto cupcakes in the book, this frosting goes on nicely just using a spatula. This recipe is included as an image to view on Amazon, if you are interested in creating these as well.
❀ Lots of Photography Tips
My Sweet Kitchen by Linda Lomelino has some great photography tips. I most likely won’t become a food photographer and I have only used a smart phone to take these photos, but I do feel as though I have gained a little bit of insight in taking a better picture. To get an idea of what the images in the book are like, check out Linda’s stunning Instagram posts.
About Linda Lomelino
Linda Lomelino is a food writer, food stylist, photographer, social media superstar, and the creator of the blog phenomenon Call Me Cupcake!, which is published in Swedish and English. She is the author of four cookbooks, "Lomelino's Cakes" (Roost Books, 2014), "Lomelino's Ice Cream" (Roost Books, 2015), "My Sweet Kitchen" (Roost Books, 2017), and "Lomelino's Pies" (Roost Books, 2017), all of which have been translated into several languages. In addition to running her blog and writing cookbooks, Linda runs international workshops on recipe development, food styling, and photography. When she's not traveling, Linda lives in Sweden with her little westie, Mozart.
About Lori
Avid reader. Contributor to The Candid Cover. Educator.
I’m interested in the book for the photography tips alone! But the recipes sound delicious too. I’m the worst food photographer, but a lot of that is, I suspect, laziness.
I love looking at beautiful photos, but I have to concur with you that I am lazy at picture taking, too! I always cringe when I post my own photos online, but it was fun to do.
Photography tips for arranging food, working on lighting, and overall making food look better are always welcome in my life. The problem is you can’t really do that in a restaurant.
Your photos look good, but I must say it’s easier with cookies or cupcakes which don’t get cold or soggy while your guests are waiting to eat!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
It would be rather difficult to hold up dinner to take a few pictures of a meal!
Yum! I love a good baking book and I like that there are styling and photography tips as well. Those dulce de leche cookies look amazing. I’m in for anything that has dulce de leche and have been known just to eat it with a spoon!
I think that eating it with a spoon sounds like the perfect way to enjoy it! 🙂
It sounds like a great book. It is always helpful to learn new photography tips. Those blueberries bars look especially delicious too! 😉
They were really delicious! 🙂
I’d like the book both for the lovely sweets and for the photography tips, which I could definitely use.
It was a lot of fun taking the pictures and trying out all of the tips! 🙂
Not familiar with Lomelino at all, so it was interesting to hear about this book. Yes, photography tips are always welcome, and your sweet treats look yummy!
It was my first experience with Lomelino’s recipes and I look forward to more of her books! 🙂
These look delicious. I have never heard of her book before.
Your photographs are beautiful, and definitely make me want some cookies! I haven’t seen this cookbook before, but as soon as it is available, it is mine!
The cover is gorgeous and your blueberry bars looks beautiful.
These look amazing! I particularly want to try the Cupcakes with Espresso Frosting. Thanks for the post! 🙂
Oh my goodness…this post made me crave all the things!
I will have to check this book out! Thanks for the great review! 😀
That dessert on the cover is certainly piled high!
Linda’s Instagram photos are terrific!
thanks for your review. we used dulcie de leche when I worked at Bakers Square for one of our cakes. It made it so much richer and delightful. I love to bake and will be giving this book a try. thanks