Related Books

In my search for the best macaron recipe, I reserved numerous titles from the library, one of which was Sugar Baby by Gesine Bullock-Pardo. I was immediately enchanted with her writing style and also the depth of explanation in the introduction and prequel. The end papers are covered with quotes from the recipe descriptions, like "For instance, if I could marry pastry cream, I would." It made me think of Betty Bunny wanting to marry chocolate cake. The chapters are a journey in the stages of sugar...thread stage (think candied citrus peek), soft-ball stage (Parisian Macaron Shells!), hard-ball stage (Babysitting Popcorn), soft-crack stage (Teetotaling Butterscotch), hard-crack stage  (Bullock Sisters' Spicy Brittle), and Put it All Together.

Reading the author information on the jacket flap, I discovered she had written a memoir entitled My Life From Scratch. Intrigued, I requested it and read it in a day. She tells her story of becoming a baker and confectioner by taking the reader through a day in her baking life when she owned a bakery in Montpelier, Vermont. The Hollywood life was not what made her happy. "I baked because it made me content and fulfilled and it brought happiness to others." Her pastries are how she decided to show her love for others. Each chapter ends with a recipe related to some aspect of the chapter. Yum.

Her latest book, Bake it Like You Mean it, is beautiful and tempting. Tonight I baked the Marble Pound Cake as a birthday breakfast treat for my youngest son. It will be his last birthday at home since next year at this time he will be living in a dorm and attending to university life. That is why I especially appreciated Gesine's last item in the list of what a baker needs: "Love - it's an essential ingredient, and you'll taste the difference when it's there. Put your heart and soul into your baking. Bake like you mean it." 

p.s. I am still waiting for her book Pie it Forward!