Books & Literature

Cookbook Review: Fabulous Food Boards, by Anna Helm Baxter

In Fabulous Food Boards, discover creative and tasty boards for every occasion.

Good for those who want to try their hand at share platters but have no idea where to start.
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Anna Helm Baxter is the co-founder and CEO of eco-conscious cake kit company Poppikit, a recipe developer, food stylist, and culinary producer. She is currently working as a recipe developer for magazines Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping, Country Living and Parents magazine. Fabulous Food Boards is her fourth cookbook.

Filled with 80 pages of recipes ranging from breakfast share platters to dessert platters and everything in between. Each recipe has a two-page spread, with the recipe taking up one page and a bright well-styled image on the other. Reviewing the e-book, I’m unable to comment on the functionality of the book itself while cooking, but since none of the recipes are hugely detailed you shouldn’t really need to have the book propped open whilst cooking.

The first 15 pages are a great read for share platter beginners. Offering information on how to calculate quantities, as well as recommended equipment and other helpful suggestions. The recipes themselves are a little inconsistent with some offering recipes for all items on the board and others offering none. For example, in the Holiday Cookies recipe on page 130, the ingredients list consists of “5 or 6 of your favourite holiday cookies.” There’s no recipe on how to make any cookies; just an example of how to style the cookies.

I picked two recipes to recreate.

ANTIPASTO (PAGE 35)

This was easy to follow as there was just a list of ingredients and a walkthrough of how to arrange them. I was unable to locate pepperoncini stuffed with feta in my local store so I’m not sure if this is a US-specific item. Some of these recipes would benefit from descriptions as to why each item was chosen. I find the best share platters include items that complement each other, using a mix of textures and flavours. I substituted the olives for dip and pepperoncini stuffed with feta with flavoured cheese to help cut through the spicy and salty elements on the board.

TACO TUESDAY (PAGE 63)

I found this dish a little odd. The recipe for the chicken was included but there were no instructions on how to make the Pico de gallo. There was plenty of room on the page to fit more information so it seemed strange to not include the full recipe. I prefer cookbooks to include recipes for the whole dish; if I have to Google part of the recipe then I may as well Google the whole thing.

The chicken lacked flavour. Most of the flavour in the dish came from the Pico de gallo recipe I found elsewhere. So overall, it was a disappointing dish.

I could see this book being beneficial to those who have no idea where to start when it comes to platters and quantities. This is mainly because there is more care taken in describing how much is needed for the entertainment platters and how to decorate them than there are actual recipes.

Overall, this book just didn’t work for me. If I’m looking for platter inspiration, a quick search on Instagram will provide me with endless options and a Google search will provide me with full recipe information.

Reviewed by Jessica Incoll
Twitter: @littlejadventur

Distributed by: Murdoch Books
Released: October 2021
RRP: $35

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