For the first time London’s legendary champions of brunch share the recipes that have made Islington’s Sunday Café a runaway success. Covering everything from quick and easy staples to fabulous feasts, and taking inspiration from a global list of ingredients, this book will take you all the way from cracking an egg to flipping pancakes and roasting pork – all with spectacularly Instagrammable results!
Brunch the Sunday Way by Alan Turner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
FTC disclosure: I would like to thank Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion Publishing for providing me with an advance reader copy via access to the galley for free through the NetGalley program.
The recipes in this cookbook were just superb! Whether you are cooking for yourself, a duet, or entertaining for a crowd, beginner or chef, I think you’ll be inspired and satisfied.
I have yet to try every single one of the recipes, but I started with the ones leaning more toward the later brunch hours and they were so delicious! Be sure to check back on this post for continual updates as I continue to embark on the others I have yet to try out.
Many of the components of the meals worked like what I akin to a capsule wardrobe, being very versatile within a collection of recipes. The elements in each dish were easily carried over to other dishes, lending to a lot of additional flavor or varietal change.
I liked the spin on tradition and the decadence in each dish because they were layered in flexibility, making it easy to substitute an ingredient or pair down and still ending great final result.
With that said, it was somewhat challenging to gauge the quantity of both the components and the final dishes themselves. The elements and serving size results varied between each recipe as well, ranging from 2-12, which I wasn’t sure were always accurate either. I bake/cook a lot so it wasn’t horribly out of the way for me to figure out, but glancing ahead required additional planning/shopping/prepping as I found myself doubling and halving to meet the final specificity. Conversions were okay though because the balance of the flavor profiles were spot on, so even multiplying the recipes by a factor of 10 would still maintain the desired achievement in taste. And it all worked out fine though, because again, any leftovers and even the remnants themselves were easily repurposed in another dish, ie… the Mustard Aioli (my most favorite and latest sauce to put on everything so far!) goes well on anything and the whey for another recipe was specified for use in the Lacto-fermented Raspberry Soda so I liked that there was attention to minimizing waste.
I was so grateful to see that metric and imperial measurements were provided. Instructions were easy to follow. Photos were great with a moody, bistro type vibe. I really have enjoyed the selection of recipes and I enjoyed reading about the story behind the restaurant which inspired this cookbook. I must say I would have liked a little backstory of some of the recipes just to add a little more personality and to convey inspiration and additional interest.
Everything that I have tried so far has turned out with stellar results, whether original or with the substitutions I had to make. I’d highly recommend this cookbook for anyone. It would make a great gift!
The best carrot cake! I got so many kudos for this cake! Gluten-free and doesn’t call for much sugar, in fact, I think if you even left sugar out it would still be just as spectacular. I’d recommend the cookbook just for this recipe!
