▪	RELEASED BY:		DEL REY
		▪	AUTHOR / ART:		YUKI MIYUKI KOBAYASHI / NATUMI ANDO
		▪	FORMAT:		JAPANESE / BW
		▪	PAGES:		208
		▪	RATING:		T
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		07/31/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		07/24/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

Things seem to be going well for Najika. Her return to Seika Academy seems to be going more smoothly since perhaps winning over her chief nemesis Akane. Her heart may be even settling towards the gentle and quiet Sora while Akane ardently cares for Daichi. Things start to broil when Najika hears her guardian at the orphanage has taken ill. Running home, she worries about losing the woman who was like a grandmother to her. Sora and Daichi go with her as support and learn a bit more about her childhood and the search for the Prince of Flan. She in turn finds out what came between Sora and Daichi. Upon her return to the academy, she wonders if someone in particular could be her prince. Yet even though Akane has relented in her vicious attacks towards the sweet girl, a new school nemesis tries to close the diner Najika works at in order to send her home. When that fails, things should be going smoothly, but a kind gesture towards Najika on Diachi’s part is misinterpreted by Akane and leads to more strife for all involved.

A heart tugging soap opera set around baking, this manga fills the senses with delicious food descriptions, and warms the heart with its often sweet and sometimes bitter tale of loss, love and second chances. In fact it offers wayward characters more than once chance to redeem themselves or correct past wrongs. Akane is the perfect example of that. Najika’s naiveté about what peoples intentions are towards her is causing some problems as well. Mind you, she is far from the only character misunderstanding people by the end of this volume. Yet at the core of it, despite any ill intent by some characters such as Akane, the main people in this manga, including Akane, are shown to have good hearts and often bittersweet circumstances.

Manga extras include standard translation notes, cultural references, and a preview in the original Japanese of the next volume, a word from the writer, and more wonderful recipes for readers to try.

Out of curiosity (Yes, they actually work!), I tried a couple of the recipes in this volume. The first was the cream puff recipe. It turned out pretty well and they’re all close to eaten all ready. Holly’s recipe alternatives: instead of baking the puffs on a cookie sheet, if you want more poof to your puff, put them into muffin baking trays using muffin cups to help get them out afterwards. Be careful about the bake time, with more batter in the muffin trays, they’ll take up to twice as long to cook. Keep checking on them without opening the oven door so that they don’t flatten. You’ll have high puffy pastry to put your cream in.

The carrot cake recipe was a personal favorite. It took little trouble to prep, aside from grating carrots, and the cake was delicious, especially when topped with a light white vanilla icing as an alternative to the more common cream cheese icing used here in North America. Holly’s recipe alternatives: if you want a bit more spice to this already delicious carrot cake, during mixing add in a half teaspoon each of nutmeg, all spice, cloves, and ginger.  

IN SUMMARY:
In the latest volume, Najika may have a clue as to who her long lost prince may be, but ill intentions follow when those around her misinterpret others’ actions. It’s a sweet story served with a bitter cup of tea in these latest chapters. Kitchen Princess is a winning recipe for shoujo fans.