Cook the Books: Beyond Baking
Edition #10 - Philip Khoury, Plant-based Baking for a New Era
Imagine for a moment I handed you a slice of cake - beautifully risen and light, with a tender, even crumb - and told you that there wasn’t an egg or a knob of butter in sight when making it.
You’d probably look at me sideways. And I’d have done the same!
Philip Khoury has spent the last decade reshaping the rules of modern baking. In Beyond Baking, he doesn’t simply offer alternatives… he questions the foundations we know of baking altogether. Proving that structure, richness and indulgence don’t belong exclusively to eggs and dairy.
Now don’t get me wrong, Philip isn’t asking you to give them up anytime soon - and I certainly won’t be! But instead, he asks us to open our minds to the idea that there is more than one way to bake. This way also happens to be kinder to the planet, to people and to animals. And that’s no bad thing.
I haven’t yet had the pleasure of baking from Philip’s first book, A New Way to Bake, but I’d heard more than enough to know this wasn’t going to be a standard plant-based cookbook.
And sure enough, as you work through the early chapters, you realise this isn’t about absence at all. Eggs and dairy aren’t hand-on-forehead dramatically removed and missed. They’re… just not needed.
What Philip gives you instead is knowledge. Why fats tenderise. How starches thicken. What proteins are actually doing to create structure. Beyond Baking is set out almost like a manual, or dare I say science textbook - as it leans into the technical side of things.
And after two years into teaching myself to bake, and becoming slightly obsessed with the science behind it all… I’m a little bit in love with it!
Speaking of things I love, a good set of rules ranks surprisingly high! And Beyond Baking opens with three very clear ones: read the recipe first, use scales, don’t substitute. My digital scales, permanently set to two decimal places, have never felt more seen!
About the Author
So who is the guy behind all this wizardry? Philip Khoury is a globally recognised pastry chef, whose work has helped redefine modern plant-based baking. Born in Australia to Lebanese parents, he trained in some of Australia’s most celebrated kitchens before moving to London to become Head Pastry Chef at Harrods. His debut cookbook, A New Way to Bake, won the Fortnum & Mason Award for Best Debut Cookery Book and established him as a leading voice in sustainable patisserie.
In Beyond Baking, he continues that exploration, pushing further into ingredient-led innovation while keeping his work accessible to home bakers. In 2025, he said his goodbyes to Harrods to focus on launching his exciting confectionery brand, Khourys.
His recent bar ‘Hong Kong’ celebrates the Lunar New Year, with flavours of candied tangerine marmalade, black sesame and roasted brown rice crunch captures exactly what defines his work… technical precision, cultural memory and a willingness to reimagine tradition.
I treated myself to a boxful. For research purposes, of course - and can confirm they taste bloody delicious!
Cook the Books is a personal tour through the cookbooks that deserve a place on your shelf. In each edition I’ll cook and bake a selection of recipes, photograph the process and reflect on what I’ve made and learned.
I’m beyond excited to be sharing 3 recipes from the book below - a little gift to you and taste of what makes Beyond Baking so great.
Right then, let’s get into it, shall we?
Light Fruit Cake | p.102
Now, I know fruit cake isn’t everyone’s favourite. It’s one of those bakes that people love to announce they ‘don’t do’, like it’s a personality trait. But I’m firmly in the fruit cake camp.
And this one is bloody good!
It’s packed with rum-soaked raisins, candied citrus peel and dried cranberries. It somehow manages to be tender and light, while still being sturdy enough to slice properly. No eggs, no butter - and you genuinely wouldn’t know.
The flavour is rum and citrus warmth, and is the kind of fruit cake that might just convert the sceptics…
Peach & Hazelnut Crumble Cake | p.112
Did you know Philip comes from a long line of peach farmers? He does! Which makes this bake all the more special.
I’m happy to report that it’s quite possibly the most delicious crumble cake I’ve ever made. Or eaten, for that matter! With the peaches all jammy and sweet contrasting with the crunchy warmth of the hazelnuts. Makes you want to go back in for ‘just one more sliver’ about six more times!
It’s hard to believe there are two whole tins of peaches hiding in there. Two! Because the crumb stays beautifully cakey and moist, not heavy or claggy in the slightest. You get the juiciness and the structure. Witchcraft.
And can I remind everyone that this is completely plant-based?! Incredible.
(I promise I won’t keep reminding you of this. Maybe...)
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies | p.86
The cookie curse has been broken!
Picture me happy dancing around the kitchen, because for the longest time, cookies have been my Achilles heel. I don’t know why, but every batch I tried either spread into one giant cookie puddle, or stayed stubbornly unmoved like little baked hockey pucks.
But not this time. This time, we have success!
These are chunky, indulgent, Levain-style little beasts, studded with molten chunks of dark chocolate and crunchy peanut shards. Dangerously moreish. The sort of cookie you accidentally eat standing at the counter, and then accidentally eat another one straight after. Being plant-based, they’re practically one of your five-a-day, no?
I dropped a batch round to my friends who run a coffee house and, after immediately devouring the lot, asked: ‘How many can I order from you in one go?!?!’
I think I’ll take that one as a win.
Macadamia Shortbread | p.91
Is there any better partner for a cup of tea than a good bit of shortbread? This macadamia version is rich, buttery and properly melt-in-your-mouth… which is funny, because there’s not a swipe of butter in sight!
The magic is in the macadamias themselves. It’s the oils from the nuts that bind the dough together - and a generous helping of cinnamon adds just the right amount of warmth. The result is the perfect little treat for an afternoon brew.
(And let’s all agree to ignore the fact I can’t seem to score a straight line to save my bloody life!)
Download the full recipe below:
Corn-ish Pasty | p. 199
I have a newfound respect for anyone who can crimp a Cornish pasty neatly! Mine looked less Cornwall bakery window and more I wrestled it into submission and hoped for the best.
But did you know that iconic thick edge was originally there for purely practical reasons? It was designed as a handle for miners with mucky hands. Which means that hefty rim of pastry was never really meant to be eaten at all! I’ve never been a huge fan of it and usually slice it straight off - and now it doesn’t feel quite so sacrilegious.
I was genuinely shocked at how great the pastry was. In a good way, of course. It’s just flour, salt, olive oil and water - and it was by far the easiest pastry dough I think I’ve worked with up to now.
This Corn-ish version leans into the warmth of earthy mushrooms, sweetcorn, and tender root veg instead. Still hearty, still deeply satisfying, and every bit as delicious as its meaty counterpart.
Download the full recipe below:
Pure Pistachio Tart | p.155
I saved the best till last with this decadent tart, celebrating a flavour that’s firmly in my top three of all time… pistachio.
This is one of those bakes where you look at the ingredient list and think, right then, Phil… we’re doing this, are we? There are quite a few elements at play here, but honestly that just made it more fun.
From scratch, you make and layer up a sweet matcha-infused pastry, a luxurious pistachio frangipane, a silky pistachio praline, a smooth pistachio crème, and then finish it all off with an airy pistachio crème diplomat. It’s quite literally layer upon layer of delicious green gold.
Now, I’d love to say that the process went smoothly - but in the middle of blitzing up the pistachio praline, my Nutribullet only went and bloody died, didn’t it! One minute it’s whirring away like a champ, the next it’s wheezing and smoking and giving up on life entirely. Thankfully, I managed to finish off the praline with my hand blender. Crisis averted!
Slight drama aside - I couldn’t be more proud of myself with this bake. Look at those layers!!
A perfect end to an utterly brilliant book.
Download the full recipe below:
So there we have it friends - Beyond Baking. A book that proves baking isn’t fixed or finite, but ever evolving.
We started with a slice of cake without eggs or butter, and ended up reshaping the way we think about both - all while producing bakes that are, quite frankly, bloody delicious.
If you would like to pick up a copy of Beyond Baking, you can do so via my Bookshop.org link below:1
Or, you can enter this month’s giveaway! See below for details:
Before we get to this month’s giveaway, a huge congratulations to Moor Meadow Farm, who has won last month’s giveaway - a copy of Winter in the Highlands! I’ll be in touch shortly to arrange shipping and get it on its way to you.
To celebrate this month’s edition of Cook the Books, I’m giving away a copy of Beyond Baking by Philip Khoury.
How to enter: Entry is free! All you need to do is be a subscriber to this Substack. That’s it!
Open internationally: Each month, a winner will be drawn at random from my current subscriber list, no matter where you are in the world. In some cases, it might be easier to order the book from a local retailer or site in your country, but I’ll make sure it finds its way to your kitchen, one way or another2.
Entries close for this month’s giveaway on March 20th 2026 and I’ll announce the winner in the next edition of Cook the Books on March 22nd 2026.
Good luck! And thank you, as always, for being here.
Mark + Hiro 🐾
This is an affiliate link, which means I earn a small amount if you choose to purchase through it - at no extra cost to you, any any amount raised goes into the monthly book giveaways
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These all look so amazing Mark, absolutely gorgeous photography as always. I am also firmly in the fruit cake camp! But for me it's that pistachio tart. Holy moly, it is a beauty. I already have A New Way to Bake so wasn't going to buy Beyond Baking. But with that tart you might have changed my mind...
What a wonderful article Mark! Stunning photos of what look like delicious food. As a food scientist that book sounds like a must have do it’s on my Wish List! I love fruit cake too but making it without butter and eggs sounds even better as I am always looking for ways to reduce my saturated fat intake. Fascinating! Thank you for sharing this.