Newsletter: Get serious about chocolate and patisserie + thirst quenching summer drinks

Professional pastry skills for everyone

Whether you are an experienced chef, cookery student, or home cook, ckbk's essential texts from the world of professional culinary training will help you to refine your skills with detailed step-by-step photography and instructions. If you are serious about patisserie and chocolate, we have two newly-added tomes that offer fully comprehensive coverage of these subjects. These books are heavyweight, not just thanks to their extensive content, but also via the significant authority they carry. Unlike the print editions, though, with ckbk both books can easily fit in your pocket!

Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft is from the revered Culinary Institute of America. With sections on the fundamental ingredients, techniques and equipment, foundation recipes that are the grounding of the pastry repertoire, and an impressive list of assembled finished recipes, this is a bible on the subject. There is step-by-step guidance throughout the recipes.

From breads and Viennoiserie, to cakes, desserts, chocolates and confectionary. From classic techniques and flavor profiles, to the most innovative combinations.

Start with an Old Fashioned Pound Cake, and work your way through to the gloriously grand Drapes and Swags Cake.

If your mission is to master the art of chocolate, the Encyclopedia of Chocolate: Essential Recipes and Techniques by Frédéric Bau and École due Grand Chocolat Valrhona has all you need.

The authors take seriously their task of translating the language and techniques of the professional chocolate world into clear methods and techniques that all can understand.

With over 200 recipes from chefs at the École du Grand Chocolat in the Rhone Valley and some of the world’s greatest pastry chefs, this is a journey into temptation!

Try a Chocolate-Banana Loaf Cake with Rum-Soaked Raisins, then brush up your chocolatier skills with Sesame-Topped Choco-Cinnamon Ganaches.

These books sit alongside the considerable professional resources on ckbk. Further titles from the Culinary Institute of America include Peter Greweling's Chocolates & Confections, Francisco Migoya's The Elements of Dessert and Frozen Desserts, and now Street Foods by Hinnerk von Bargen, another recent addition to ckbk. You can also explore books from the French Culinary Institute, and Le Cordon Bleu's Home Collection.

Find out more with our guide to ckbk’s Professional Bookshelf.

Find all 200+ recipes from the Encylopedia of Chocolate

Pictured above: Raspberry Mascarpone Tart from Baking & Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft by Culinary Institute of America

Keep cool and hydrated with super summer drinks

When the temperatures soar, don’t forget to stay hydrated. Nor should you forget that among the many thousands of recipes on ckbk we have some fabulous drinks! And whether you are looking for pool-party cocktails, refreshment for the sober set, or to make a jug of something delicious for the kids, we have curated a collection for you.

Start by exploring our Chillout Summer Drinks. Wherever you are in the world there is a local thirst quencher. Go British and make some Homemade Ginger Beer, or head to India for this Sweet and Salty Lime Drink.

Take a look at Our Favorite Margarita Mixes – this Aleppo Margarita conjures a cool pitstop after a hot day in the city’s souk.

Given that it’s summer, it would be a pity not to make the most of all that lovely fruit. So why not Fix Some Fruity Cocktails, such as this Melon Cocktail filled with chunks of the chilled ripe fruit, or this Blueberry Sparkler. You’ll be glad of any of these Thirst Quenching Drinks for a Hot Day. And not forgetting our whole collection of Mocktails and Non Alcoholic Party Drinks – Orange Blossom Lemonade is a divinely sophisticated take on the classic.

Celebrating Yorkshire Day

August 1 is Yorkshire Day, a day to celebrate an English county rightly proud of its food heritage. We’ve put together a collection of Yorkshire Flavours for Yorkshire Day.

Kick things off with some Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb and Hibiscus Jam on your morning toast.

For the main meal try a hearty Yorkshire Pan Pie, with a traditional Yorkshire Curd Tart for afters. And don’t forget to make room for that most quintessential of Yorkshire buns, the Fat Rascal.

Ingredient spotlight: coconut

The coconut tree is a palm, which thrives in coastal areas of the tropics. The ‘nut’ is actually the stone of a larger fruit, and the outer husk is usually removed before shipping. As the inside of this stone ripens it contains a creamy firm flesh and a refreshing liquid, often called coconut water. Coconut milk is a different thing, much thicker, made using the dried coconut flesh, and a staple of Asian cookery.

Try Rita’s Tamarind & Coconut Prawn Curry, or any of the recipes in our collection of 12 Ways With Coconut Milk. Coconut flesh, fresh and dried, are favorites in both the savory and sweet kitchen. Try Coconut Cream Pie, or evoke beloved childhood candy with these chocolate covered Coconut Squares.

6 of the best cheesecake recipes

Cheesecake Day! What a good idea. This very important day is celebrated on July 30, and we bring you a half dozen wonderful cheesecakes for you to whip up in preparation.