Friday, August 5, 2022

Let’s Bake! A Pusheen Cookbook by Claire Belton & Susanne Ng

 




Reviewed by Jeanne

I’m not sure when I first became aware of Pusheen, the round grey cartoon cat with a sunny attitude and penchant for snacking, but I was pretty much charmed immediately.  I think the first thing I got was the calendar, followed by the book.  Of course, more merchandise appeared in short order for people who just couldn’t get enough the adorable feline.

Since Pusheen is very food oriented, it seems only natural that edible Pusheen items would start popping up on social media and then voila! A Pusheen cookbook. 

In keeping with Pusheen’s penchant for pastries and dessert, most of the recipes are for sweets of some sort:  cookies, doughnuts (a Pusheen favorite!), cakes, and even ice cream. The full color photos show absolutely adorable and mouth-watering treats. There are a few non-sweets, such as Pusheen pizza.

The recipes are rated in terms of difficulty and there is a yield listing.  The list of ingredients is nicely specific (for example, butter “slightly softened but still cold” is very helpful to me, otherwise the butter might be a puddle) and the steps of mixing and decorating are well illustrated with photos. Templates for Pusheen shapes are included in the back, including different sizes for different projects.

I was delighted by the book for all the creativity, part of which is in the presentation. Candy stars surround Pusheen marshmallows, for example, as well as attention to detail.  Pusheen doughnuts have white chocolate chips added before being coated to give that Pusheen “feet.”

Where I think I would have trouble is in the decorating. Steady hands and some degree of talent seems to be involved.

There’s one more impediment for me:  I don’t bake.  Or cook, for that matter.

For anyone who is looking for clever and cute ideas for cup cakes, cookies, cakes, etc., this is a fine choice.  The only problem is they might be too pretty to eat!

No comments:

Post a Comment