Christmas cooking goes wrong in the same three places every year: the ham, the timing and the pudding. Donna Hay wrote this book to remove all three, and the revised edition adds a glazed ham you do not have to stud or baste at all.

Over one hundred and seventy recipes run from easy starters through show stopping mains to desserts that look like far more work than they were, plus a section of edible gifts. Step by step photographic sequences walk you through the glossy ham, the roast bird, the fruit pudding and the trifle, so the fiddly parts are shown rather than described.

Two hundred and seventy two pages, hardcover, with the clean styling Donna Hay is known for and enough shortcuts to let you sit down at your own table.