For the culinarily challenged

If your loved one is seriously hapless in the kitchen and still thinks Loyd Grossman presents Masterchef, nothing will prove quite so useful as a catch-all recipe book. This year a variety of non-patronising offerings came to market.

Let’s start with minor web celebrity Nick Coffer, the author of the massively popular My Daddy Cooks video blog, on which he whips up treats with his adorable three-year-old son Archie.

The former food retailer, who turned house husband due to the economic downturn, has developed Class A cooking skills, and his book is perfect for those looking for easy recipes such as Easy Ramen Noodle Soup, Thai Green Curry and No-cook Tomato, Basil and Garlic Pasta Sauce (My Daddy Cooks: 100 Fresh New Recipes For The Whole Family by Nick Coffer, Hodder, £16.99).

Also on the scene came broad-shouldered former Wasps and England rugby union captain Lawrence Dallaglio, who was taught to appreciate food by his Italian father Vincenzo. The book is a tribute to the player’s rediscovered love of domestic life since leaving the pitch, and he cooks alongside two generations of Dallaglio men (including son Enzo) in My Italian Family Cookbook.

Despite its sentimental premise and many pictures of happy Dallaglios, the book is the real deal and includes delicious, incredibly simple recipes for meals such as Penne with Sausage, Lemon and Cream, Hunter’s Chicken and Ricotta and Spinach Dumplings (My Italian Family Cookbook by Lawrence Dallaglio, Simon & Schuster, £18.99).

And then there’s happy-go-lucky, self-taught cook and busy father Bill Granger. Every book by Aussie chef Granger offers fail-safe ways to make straightforward, yummy and usually healthy meals. So if you’ve missed previous culinary gems such as Bill’s Everyday Asian, Bill’s Basics and Simply Bill in recent years, then catch up with... Best Of Bill.

His background running a top-notch Sydney cafe means he’s a dab hand at inventing quick and easy crowd-pleasers, which is spot on for those looking for an introductory tome (Best Of Bill by Bill Granger, Murdoch Books, £25).

For the enthusiastic amateur

As likely as not, your gift recipient will belong to a territory of home cooking known as ‘average’. These individuals can be identified by both their enthusiastic approach and their erratic execution. Just as likely to serve up a chewy paella made with ‘stuff they found in the cupboard’ as a perfectly-executed beef bourguignon, they need a cookbook filled with short recipes, clear instructions and trendy ideas to whet their appetites and raise their game.

A good place to start is River Cottage Veg Everyday by Britain’s favourite home cook and food campaigner, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

After turning his back on meat this year, he’s filled the cookbook that accompanied the inevitable TV series with lots of bright ideas, such as Red Cabbage, Parsnip, Orange and Date Salad (River Cottage Veg Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Bloomsbury, £25).

Meat lovers will like Silvena Rowe’s latest book Orient Express. Despite a childhood spent in communist Bulgaria, she’s more proud of her father’s Turkish ancestry, and firmly committed to the sweet sauces and exotic spice blends of the Middle East. Recipes such as Spiced Pork and Cumin Sausages with Fennel and Preserved Lemon Salad should have any amateur cook’s eyes burning bright (Orient Express by Silvena Rowe, Hutchinson, £20).

Finally Simon Hopkinson, a name familiar to lovers of good food writing, published The Good Cook, to go with the accompanying BBC series.

Inspired by pedantic, traditional cooking authorities such as Elizabeth David, Jane Grigson and Constance Spry, Hopkinson’s luxurious book is the place to learn once and for all how to steam your ginger sponge and make the perfect coq au vin (The Good Cook by Simon Hopkinson, BBC Books, £25).

For those who love to stun

If your recipient belongs to the highest level of modern-day amateur cooks, then approach with caution. This is the kind of person whose partner is tired of sharing a bedroom with a sous-vide digital water bath.

For this kitchen champion the list has to start with Heston Blumenthal At Home. While the experimental cook’s last effort (the 532-page Big Fat Duck Cookbook) was rather exhausting, his latest is the perfect gift for true foodies.

Simple-sounding dishes such as a prawn cocktail, rack of lamb and Eccles cakes are transformed into the sublime (Heston Blumenthal At Home, Bloomsbury, £30).

Recently-published Allegra McEvedy’s Bought, Borrowed & Stolen is a thrilling diary of a lifelong food journey which includes recipes from all corners of the globe. From Milk Jelly with Figs and Malawi Homemade Peanut Butter, to French Roasted Raspberries and Clam and Ginger Broth from the Philippines (which she describes eating as like ‘relocating your pulse’), it’s not just about cooking, but devouring ideas from the across the world. Her animated writing will put a spring in the step of any foodie tired of ‘same old, same old’. (Bought, Borrowed & Stolen by Allegra McEvedy, Conran Octopus, £25).

Finally, this list wouldn’t be complete without a nod to the cook for whom 2011 was truly her year. Fiona Cairns was commissioned to make the Royal Wedding cake and, although no food writers were on hand to review it, reports are that her eight-tier cake, made up of 17 individual cakes, was a bit of a hit.

Her latest Birthday Cake Book is an ode to her favourite sweets, and contains some frighteningly technical and delicious-looking recipes, such as Bejewelled Elephant Masala Chai Cake. That’s precisely why you should present it to a baking devotee and reap the benefits. (The Birthday Cake Book by Fiona Cairns, Quadrille, £18.99).