For someone who can’t bake anything more elaborate than a carrot cake, it strikes me as odd that one of my all time favorite cookbooks is a pastry cookbook.

However, if you consider that IKEA is the publisher of said cookbook and that somewhere inside of me survives an OCD architect, it all begins to make cosmic sense.

the cookbook:

“Hembakat är Bäst” (Homemade is Best) contains 30 Swedish baking recipes from gingerbread men (and women) to full fledged cakes, but beyond the recipes it is a must have for its beautiful minimalistic photography of both ingredients and final product, each photograph a geometric work of art all on its own.

 Prinsesstårta

Pepparkakor

 All images courtesy of Ikea

the i-phone app:

I also recently found out that they had turned it into an i-phone app containing the same recipes and for those of you who like to burn their food off before they eat it, it’ll even talk to you while you’re at the gym, letting you know which deserts you’ve burnt off so far. You can see and download the app here, but here’s a sneak peek: