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Tina Bester runs the cutest little restaurant called the Queen of Tarts in Observatory.  Just down the road from Val Elder’s The Real Cheese – two excuses to visit coffee or lunch and them cheese to take home.

Tina Bester doesn’t mind if her pastry’s slightly wonky – in fact this self-proclaimed ‘no rules girl’ prefers it that way. At her delightfully whimsical store, she’s created a vintage-inspired, playful escape from reality where you can order a decadent slice of gooey chocolate cake for breakfast and nobody bats an eyelid.

Bake is about Tina’s travels from a ‘no bake’ cook to a passionate purveyor of home baked treats, made the old-fashioned way but with a Queen of Tarts contemporary twist.

The book is divided into six sweet and savoury sections and includes recipes for biscuits to fill up the cookie jar, the perfect flaky pastry roast chicken pie, an extensive selection of sweet tarts, cakes and meringue creations (including some of Queen of Tarts most famous bakes) and breads and buns. Each is crammed with mouthwatering imagery thanks to Tina’s creative eye and an integral belief that making pretty is part of the fun.   The recipes and instructions in Bake are uncomplicated and oh-so-easy to achieve, and Tina offers plenty of no-nonsense advice on how to ensure your baked creations are a success. Inspiring imagery and ideas to create your own foodie fantasies are very much part of the package and are bound to stir up a desire to get out the mixing bowls and to get baking.

Bake takes the fear factor out of this timeless tradition and celebrates the joy that a pretty iced cupcake or still-warm savoury tart can bring.

Beautifully designed, photographed and published by Craig Fraser and Libby Doyle of Quivertree Publications www.quivertree.co.za, with writing by the very talented Vicky Sleet, this is one for the kitchen shelf where it will be used – and often!