David Atherton, winner of the 2019 Great British Bake Off, has just published a new kids’ cookbook full of tasty recipes, seasoned with a dash of LGBTQ Pride! Here’s an exclusive sneak peek! (And if you missed the two-dad family in his previous kids’ cookbook, I have a look at that, too.)
Bake, Make & Learn to Cook Vegetarian: Healthy and Green Recipes for Young Cooks (Candlewick) is Atherton’s second volume of recipes for young cooks, this time focused on vegetarian dishes. Atherton presents his main dishes, snacks, deserts, and “showstoppers” with cheery flair. Each recipe is broken down into simple numbered steps, aided by bright drawings from Alice Bowsher. Despite this helpfully structured presentation, Atherton also encourages young cooks to “add your own personal touches to the recipes and create your own flavor combinations.”
Among the showstoppers is a “Summer Sandcastle Cake,” which is depicted with rainbow and trans Pride flags on top, a lovely bit of incidental LGBTQ inclusion. Atherton, who is gay, doesn’t explain how to decorate the flags, saying only to make them by wrapping rice paper around toothpicks. Readers are free to create flags of any style they wish—but the incidental inclusion of this one image is a lovely nod to the LGBTQ community and a reminder to others that LGBTQ kids and those with LGBTQ parents may be reading this book, too. None of the other recipes have anything LGBTQ about them; this isn’t a “queer cookbook” per se, and that’s fine. It’s just a cookbook for families today, many of which include LGBTQ people among them. Somehow, that feels even more significant.
Atherton’s first cookbook for kids, the non-vegetarian Bake, Make & Learn to Cook: Fun and Healthy Recipes for Young Cooks, included a two-dad family among several drawn in its pages. This is only one of a couple of images of them in the book:
As with any cookbooks for youngsters, some adult guidance may be necessary with either of these books, but that will depend on the age, experience, and inclination of your children. I’m a big proponent of starting kids in the kitchen early, and these books will help them have fun as they develop their skills and make some tasty treats!
(Looking for more LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ books with baking themes? Check out my roundup from earlier this year!)