Oxfordshire cook Dame Prue Leith has released a new cookbook revealing 80 of her best shortcuts to make cooking easier .

Every recipe in Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom comes with an accompanying hint, tip or demonstration video.

The book was named after the phrase was coined by Shirley Conran in her 70s bestseller Superwoman.

Dame Prue, who lives in Moreton-in-Marsh with her husband retired fashion designer John Playfair, has been at the top of the British food scene for nearly 60 years.

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The new book contains years of culinary know-how squashed into one guide.

It comes as research conducted by Perspectus Global in September 2024 showed creative cooks in Oxford are already using clever hacks in the kitchen like chilling wine with salt water and using bubble wrap to keep ice-cream from melting.

The research of 2,000 people also found Oxford cooks find Beef Wellington, paella and souffles among the most challenging dishes to master and 83 per cent of people in Oxford are frustrated with how long meal preparation takes.

Before finding TV success as a judge on the Great British Bake Off and the Great American Baking show, as well as her own ITV programme Prue’s Cotswold Kitchen, Dame Prue founded the renowned Leith ’s School of Food and Wine and was proprietor of the Michelin-starred Leith’s Restaurant.