I didn’t realise, but Nutella has been around since the sixties. Of Italian decent, this addictive chocolate and hazelnut spread is available all over the globe. It’s a versatile ingredient, and can be used in all manner of things in baking. This book has collected 30 of the best recipes.

The 30 recipes are split into four sections, each covering a different type of recipe, from treats, to melt-in-the-mouth and sharing. The recipes details are compact due to the size of the book, but are easy to follow. Some of the recipes rely on ready made ingredients, such as salted caramel or filo pastry, but the rest are fairly common store cupboard ingredients.My favourite recipes were the Nutella Coconut Coolants, the Nutella Croissants and the Banana and Nutella Milkshake (throw a dollop of peanut butter in that bad boy, and it rocks).

The measurements are in grams and cups, so this recipe book will work either side of the Atlantic. Every recipe comes with a beautifully shot and mouth watering photo.

I think that the recipes cover various skill levels, so there will be something in here for the skilled baker or novice to try. The great thing about it is, all the ingredients are so delicious, that even if things don’t look like the pictures, they will still taste great.

My one complaint about the book, and this is just because I am a pastry pedant, is that the recipe titled Nutella Macaroons is actually macarons. There is a world of difference between a macaroon (the double ‘o’, rhyming with moon) and a macaron (the single ‘o’ sound is like tone or phone). One is largely coconut, where as the other is a small delicate meringue using ground almonds with a cream filling. The mistake is common, but I would have expected a corporate recipe book to have had adequate research or editing to have picked up on this very amateur mistake.

That aside, this book is rather cute, as it is presented in the form of a 3D jar of Nutella, and immediately I thought that this would make an excellent gift for that Nutella fan in your life. Or yourself. Either is good.

This book is published by Jacqui Small LLP, available from 1st August.
ISBN: 1909342165