The Fabulous Cakes of Zinnia Jakes – The Crumbling Castle.

Who is Zinnia Jakes? Her cakes are out of this world. She must be the world’s greatest magician or a witch or something magical?

By day, Zoe Jones is a mild-mannered 9-year-old girl. But after school, she is the master pastry chef that is Zinnia Jakes.

Yes, you heard right, Zoe Jones is a 9-year-old with the amazing talent of making the most amazing cakes. Zoe has set up her own cake making business in her auntie’s home, in a secret kitchen, under the secret identity of Zinnia Jakes. Everyone in town is raving about these amazing cakes, but no-one, apart from those close to her, know the identity of Zinnia Jakes. With the help of her auntie, her best friend Addie, and a magical cat named Coco, Zinnia gets orders from all around the town.

One morning, Zinnia Jakes gets an order placed on her website for a medieval cake in the shape of a castle. It has to be authentically medieval in both taste and texture. Not only has Zoe, aka Zinnia, have to figure out how to bake this extra difficult cake or lose her reputation, she has to deliver the cake to the Town Fair without blowing her cover. And, now the time of delivery has been moved forward.

Will she have time to bake it? Will she be able to bake it? And, how will she deliver it without blowing her cover? Heck, I can’t tell you that, you’ll have to read this amazing master-chef cake making adventure for yourself. If I just told you, you’d miss out on seeing how it unfolds, you’ll miss out on really getting to know Coco, the magical cat. You’d miss all the adventure and tension of it all. So I’m not going to tell you. So there! But, I will tell you that at the back of the book is a Zinnia Jake’s cake recipe for you to bake. It’s a medieval gingerbread recipe. It tells you what you’ll need and step-by-step instructions. It even comes with a magical cat. No it doesn’t, but maybe you have a pet that can help?

This is an enjoyable read and the first in a series that will tantalise the taste buds of young readers. Bon appetite!

Details:

Title: The Fabulous Cakes of Zinnia Jakes – The Crumbling Castle

Author: Brenda Gurr

Illustrator: Nancy Leshnikoff

Publisher: New Frontier Publishing, 2020