Our Verdict: The Sweet Roasting Tin

Kirstin: This is a fabulous little book and well worth exploring as are all of Rukmini Iyer’s books. It has some fabulous recipes and covers all the bases with gluten free and vegan options for many. It also covers all the bases in terms of variety of recipes which is why this book is very much staying on the permanent shelf in the kitchen. It’s also a great book to give to others (I’ve already gifted 2 copies) as there really is something for everyone to suit all tastes.

I’ve heard that this is the last book in her series of Roasting Tin books. I will be so sorry not to see any new books from Rukmini using this concept but I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Maureen: I was sorry that I didn’t bake more out of this, but with an empty nest and all, it seemed hard to justify baking things just for the two of us. I did make the vegan chocolate chip cookies for a vegan friend of ours who did us a favour (he loved them), and the chocolate-lime cake was a hit. I agree with Kirstin: Rukmini Iyer’s books are very good. Just this week, I remade her roasted salmon from the Quick Roasting Tin, which is still a winner.

This is a very straightforward baking book for people who might not be so confident in the World of Baking. It won’t go on my high rotation shelf for that reason (I have a lot more baking books that I like better that I rely on regularly), but I definitely would recommend it to others. I, too, am very sorry that this will be the last of the roasting tin books, but I very much look forward to seeing what she does next.

“Chocolate-Lime Truffle Cake” from “The Sweet Roasting Tin”

After a very long, pandemic-induced hiatus, my Book Club is meeting in person again, which is delightful. Frankly, there’s nothing I like better than book talk and many bottles of wine, which are then finished off with something sweet. (If you’re curious, this month’s novel was “Summerwater” by Sarah Moss. It’s a slim volume of intertwined tales from a Scottish holiday park. I loved it.)

Usually, I like to provide the “something sweet” portion of the evening. This cookbook came to rescue as I was trying to decide what to make. Also, it was handy that I had a crowd arriving, as I haven’t baked out of this book much this month, owing to a lack of people in the house. When there were four of us in the house, polishing off a cake didn’t take long at all, but now that there’s only two of us (SOB!), polishing off a cake is much more of a struggle.

First, a caveat about this recipe. It calls for the use of a 20 cm by 26 cm pan. Despite the fact that I own approximately 1,177* baking pans of varying sizes, I could not find one that was that size. As you can see from the photo above, I used my square pan and while I did have to adjust the baking time, overall it worked fine.

(*An approximation, probably by a power of 50)

The addition of lime to the chocolate added a nice unexpected kick to the cake, which was delicious. Sea salt and chocolate is already a winning combination, so I was happy to toss the flakes on to the top.

Rukmini describes this as, “A very grown-up cake.” I have to agree.

“Sticky date ginger bread” from “The Sweet Roasting Tin”

Kirstin: Well now, I’ve never made a sticky date any kind of pudding before. And since the weather is beginning to feel more and more autumnal, I thought this might be a suitable bake for a Friday evening. Rukmini says how this was the first recipe she made for the book. It uses olive oil, just as the chocolate chip cookies did. And eggs (sorry vegans). And also date syrup which was a new ingredient to me. She suggests you could substitute brown sugar for the syrup. Because while I did enjoy the flavours in this, I found it a little dry and I wonder if the sugar might add some extra stickiness. We shall see if I make this again. I’m also looking forward to trying a slice of this later today with a cup of tea, because I suspect it will be very good as a leftover.

“Salted chocolate chip coookies” from ” The Sweet Roasting Tin”

Kirstin: I am not a huge chocolate chip cookie baker. But on this Sunday I was prepared to give it a go; I was ready to embrace that smug feeling of leaving the dough to chill in the fridge, knowing that later we would have warm, fresh cookies to mark the end of the weekend. The recipe intrigued me too, as it had no eggs and used olive oil as the fat; it worked incredibly well and was much less faffing for a non-baker like me. She suggests grating a little orange peel to change the recipe up a bit. I could definitely be persuaded to make these again, just so I could taste this variation. Well that’s what I am telling myself anyways…

Pear, blackberry and cardamom crumble” from “The Sweet Roasting Tin”

Kirstin: Winter is coming. But first it’s autumn. Which means CRUMBLE SEASON. Rukmini has a couple of recipes for crumbles in this book (alongside a WHOLE chapter on brownies) but this is the one that grabbed my attention. All the autumn flavours; pear and blackberries. With added extra goodness from cardamom and black pepper. Rukmini is a genius at adding what others might think was a strange ingredient and making it part of what feels absolutely right in a recipe. The black pepper and cardamom fulfill this role here, elevating the flavours to make what might have been an average crumble into a delicious, fragrant and VERY soon to be made again crumble.

The recipe can be found here if you too want to have a go at all the autumnal feels.

“Chocolate and rosemary loaf” from ” The Sweet Roasting Tin”

Kirstin: Rosemary and chocolate is not a combination you might immediately think of, but don’t let this put you off because Rukmini can be completely trusted (see her recipe in the Quick Roasting tin for a sage and chocolate chip biscuit). I made this recipe a few weeks ago; the night of the US women’s tennis finals. And we toasted Radacanu’s win with some English fizz and a slice of this chocolate loaf. It was moist, and filled with fantastic flavours with a hint of savoury. Perfect for celebrating and to offset the fizz.

Cookbook of the Month, October 2021: The Sweet Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer

Kirstin: This month is bringing a whole load of changes to the Cookbookamonth team. With children off to studies, and fewer people at home to cook for, we thought we should be kind to ourselves and try cooking some sweet things (in moderation, of course). Rukmini Iyers has a new cookbook which fits the bill perfectly. I use her sweet baking tray recipes all the time, so was particularly excited to see the release of this book dedicated all things sweet, in September. She has options for gluten free and vegans so all the bases are covered.

Maureen: The great thing about this book is there’s a handy guide in the back for recipes that are vegan, gluten free or diabetic friendly (or could be easily converted to that). And yes, it will be a good month for all the baking since suddenly our house will be empty, with both children off to uni now. Sigh. (Look out, neighbours! I will have donations!!)