Livre d'Or

Good suggestion, thank you. I do think that a sciencey approach is likely to be more comfortable for me, but I think a lot of my problem at the moment is that many recipes assume prior knowledge that I don't have, not that they're not technical enough. Still, more sources of stuff to play with and learn from experience can't hurt at all.

I think what I want to do is get more experience of baking based on using my friends' suggested basic recipes, and when I have more of an idea of the sorts of things I enjoy, then go out and buy cookbooks. But I'll make a note of Alton Brown, thanks.