A review of three recipe books which make up The Hungry Student Cookbooks by Charlotte Pike. Written specifically for students leaving home and living on their own for the first time. There’s a general one, a vegetarian one and a baking one.
There are three books out this year which have caused a lot of excitement amongst many a food blogger. Unusually, they are all by the same author. It almost feels like a shared success when one of our own gets a cookbook published. Blogger, Charlotte Pike, went one better than publishing her first book, however – she managed three all in one go.
How she achieved this whilst running a successful business, blogging for the Guardian and Hello magazine and giving cookery demonstrations beats me. It’s an astonishing feat which I put down to a lot of hard work and very good planning.
The Hungry Student Cookbooks
The Hungry Student – who doesn’t resonate with that concept? As the name implies, these books are aimed at students living away from home for the first time and offer simple but tasty recipes that don’t cost the earth. Just a few years out of University herself, Charlotte remembers well what it was like to survive on a very tight food budget.
I spent my student years consuming lentils. I have a great fondness for this humble pulse, but my repertoire could have been expanded and any one of these books would have been ideal for the task.
Never mind the hungry student, these books are ideal for the hungry worker too. I know when I get home from work or have been digging down at the plot, I want something hearty, filling and quick. Charlotte delivers plenty of ideas along those lines.
The recipes have all been tried and tested prior to publication, both by Charlotte and a willing team of testers. I know because it was my privilege to be one of them. One year on and I still remember how good those peanut butter blondies were. I really must make them again.
I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the books and finally see what they looked like. As a thank you for the testing, I was sent all three copies. As they arrived around my birthday, I took them to be a very welcome impromptu birthday present.
I was really impressed with their overall appearance and ease of use. The covers are fun and colourful. The layout is clear and uncluttered and there are plenty of mouth-watering pictures although sadly not all recipes are accompanied by one.
There are some recipes that appear in more than one book. This is a bit annoying if you have the complete set. But to be fair there isn’t too much of an overlap.
The books are published by Quercus. You can buy them as single editions or as a set and at only £7.99 per book, I reckon they’re extremely good value.
Having tested some of the recipes last year, I know how good they are: they work. Post publication, I have tried a few more and can vouch for the fact they are not only reliable, but delicious too. Thankfully and as you’d expect, there are lots of chocolate recipes in all three of the books. I’ve had no problems finding plenty of enticing bakes to make.
The Hungry Student: Easy Baking
Being a keen baker, this was of course, the very first of the three books that I energetically leafed through. Whilst this is an excellent cookbook for the beginner, there are a multitude of recipes that will appeal to the more experienced baker. They certainly appealed to me.
It starts with some information and a few handy hints focussing on key ingredients and baking techniques. Chapters include: Small Bakes, Big Bakes, Traybakes, Baked Desserts and the not to be forgotten Breakfast Baking. The picture of a tray of cinnamon buns in this one had me leaping around with delight.
Charlotte hasn’t forgotten bread either. The chapter on Easy Breads includes some basics such as crusty white loaf, wholemeal soda bread and pizza bases. But there’s also recipes for some more unusual flatbreads. The cheesy courgette caterpillar bread loaf sounds spectacular. And with the current courgette glut we’re experiencing, it’s on my list of things to bake soon.
No sooner did I see Charlotte’s recipe for chocolate fudge brownies, than I had to give them a go. I baked them for the Liskeard pop-up cafe back in July where they received rave reviews and every single one of them disappeared. Luckily, I managed to snaffle a piece, so I can attest they were truly fudgy with a satisfying crunchy top. In fact, I would go as far as to say these were amongst the best brownies I’ve made and I’ve made quite a few.
The Hungry Student: Vegetarian Cookbook
As well as a host of useful tips on cooking, ingredients and equipment, this book includes a section on How Not to Poison Your Friends. If you value your friends, you will follow this advice.
As well as the sort of chapters you’d expect in a student book, such as pasta, curries and easy dinners, there’s a handy one on Feeding Friends which gives a few more elaborate recipes. It also ups the quantities somewhat. The Morning After chapter gives a host of interesting breakfast dishes. They’re all simple but tasty and make a nice change from a bowl of cereal.
As a vegetarian, I was especially pleased to get hold of this book. I remember well the lovely creations I tried out when recipe testing for it. Lentil shepherd’s pie is a dish I make regularly. Charlotte’s take on it, however, is quite different to mine. She adds mushrooms and red wine and it’s very good indeed.
Veggie toad in the hole is another regular in this household, but I’d not had it with onion gravy before and that notches it up a few levels. Until testing these recipes, I’d never baked a risotto in the oven. But the baked squash risotto was delicious and so easy.
With plenty of Swiss chard down at the plot, one of the first recipes I made was spiced spinach with black eye beans and very tasty it was too.
Baking, of course, gets a mention. I was so intrigued by the chocolate red wine cake, I had to make it immediately. Assuming the concept of leftover wine is not a foreign one to students, this is a brilliant use for it. I jazzed it up a bit with icing and decorations and took it into work where it went down a storm.
The Hungry Student: Cookbook
This is an all round cookbook which includes a bit of everything. As with the others, it starts with sections on stocking up your store cupboard, loving your oven and various other cooking tips and techniques. A section on watching your budget is a particularly useful one for students and includes the suggestion to “see if your parents will take you shopping” which made me laugh.
The book is divided into the same chapters as the vegetarian cookbook. Don’t worry though, most of the recipes are of course different. Being a bit of a bread head, the chapter In Bread and on Toast grabbed my attention. I’d already tested both the cheese and beer rarebit and the cheese and leek rarebit. The latter was so good, I’ve made it several times subsequently.
As a vegetarian, I still found plenty in the book to keep me going. One of the first things I tested was coconut rice. Adding coconut milk to basmati rice and serving with toasted sesame seeds is such a simple adaptation, but very effective and quite delicious.
I remember the patatas bravas with great fondness, but keep forgetting to make them again. On my list of things to try out soon are the black bean quesadillas. Also the halloumi and roasted vegetables with lemon dressing. I’m always looking for another way to use up courgettes.
When I make pancakes, I tend to make English ones. However I found the photographs for American pancakes in this book most tempting and so I gave them a go. Adding blueberries to the batter is a technique I’ve subsequently adopted.
In summary these books are for students of life, not just university. That said, as students prepare to head off and face life in a shared kitchen, now is the perfect time to buy them. Perhaps parents could assist by taking their loved ones book shopping.
Other Blogger Recipe Book Reviews You Might Like
- Homemade Memories by Kate Doran
- Hungry Healthy Happy by Dannii Martin
- Living On The Veg by Jacqueline Meldrum
- Seriously Good Salads by Nicky Corbishley
- Veggie Desserts by Kate Hackworthy
- Wild Honey & Rye by Ren Behan
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. I do hope you enjoyed this review of the Hungry Student Cookbooks. If you get hold of any of them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Have you any recommendations? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more recipe books for your bookshelf, you might like to take a look at some of my other book review posts.
Choclette x
Maya Russell says
Thank you for the review. I’m going to get this for someone who has recently started university.
Charlotte Charlotte'sKitchenDiary says
So glad to hear you are enjoying the books Laura! I hope you all enjoy using them for many years to come : ) Charlotte
Choclette says
I don’t think there is any danger of these books not being used for many years to come Charlotte.
Charlotte Charlotte'sKitchenDiary says
Wonderful to hear it : )
laura_howtocook says
I have my copies and keep meaning to write my review but also would like to take a photo to go with my review and so far have not managed to do that as we have enjoyed eating all the savoury dishes too much!
Think I will try a few more bakes as I tested out more of the savoury and then get the camera out. I have loved the books and know I will keep using them. and wish they were around when I was a student which seems so long ago now.
Choclette says
I think it’s really hard blogging about meals. Basically, if the food is ready to eat, you want to dish it up and eat it. Blogging about cakes is so much easier! Glad you liked the books too. I look forward to reading your review when it’s up Laura.
Baking Addict says
Lovely review and I want those brownies!! My birthday is coming up soon…. 🙂 PS I also love peanut butter!
Choclette says
Ros, if you hadn’t said, I’d never have know peanut butter was a favourite with you 😉
Frugal Queen says
I was thinking just the same, what student, of any university or life, has red wine left over – they do sound good books though – froogs xx
Choclette says
Thanks Froogs. It has been known to happen in this household – we are strange folk and generally prefer cooking with wine rather than drinking it.
Janice Pattie says
They sound great, although I have my doubts about there being any red wine left over!
Choclette says
Haha, yes Janice, it does seem a bit unlikely.