If You Can Make That
You Can Make This

There are thousands of cooking blogs -- each week, we bring you highlights from the best. This week, a blog that makes the cooking world your oyster.

Saying "pus" on a food website is a bit like yelling "bomb" on an airplane -- you just don't do it. And yet, British (which is apparently no longer synonymous with prim and proper) blogger Katherine Knowles did the verboten and published a recipe for Oozing-Pus Chocolate Cupcakes. Oh yes she did! (To be fair, it was in the gross-out spirit of Halloween -- but still.)

If You Can Make That You Can Make This is this brave blogger's charmingly addictive site -- it hinges on the premise that "anyone can cook" popularized by culinary giants the likes Julia Child and Remy (the rat in Ratatouille ... duh.) The site is home to a tidy arsenal of core recipes, Savoury and Sweet, that contain simple and direct instructions to self-make any cooking sophisticate: "Learn to cook one and you'll be able to cook a plethora of dishes," writes Knowles. 

Forming a pearl necklace of tips, technique and recipes, each post ends with a list of links to other appealing but straightforward recipes. It's a veritable cooking school of a sort. Learn to make Cakes -- we absolutely agree that "Any day is improved by the addition of a slice of cake" -- and you've learned to fish. You'll be making Victoria Sponge, Clementine Cake and those oozing you-know-what chocolate cupcakes (should you so choose) in no time.

We are in love with her drawn illustrations (which she, by the by, also uses as photos for her food52 recipes) -- in short, they are sweet as can be and give a clean, chic aesthetic to the site at large. What they belie, however, is the fact that this blog is hip as can be: with posts like "The Monday Treat -- Justin Bieber and truffle butter popcorn" and "This Dinner Will Get You Laid – Skirt (Steak) Sandwich with Herb Mayo". With a dash of snark and pop cultural intrigue, Kate writes confidently through her life of food, love and city livin'.