Starting Over One Cake at a Time [Hardcover]

I'm a cake, pastry and general sweet fiend, so I couldn't resist giving this book a go, but I was braced to set it down very quickly after skimming through for recipes. I assumed (stupidly - not the first time) that it would be rather luvvy-ish and peppered with gratuitous Hollywood name-dropping and sickly anecdotes.

I was totally wrong. And very glad to be! Gesine B-P (the double surname is the only jarring thing about her, seriously) writes immediately engaging prose, the secret of which is her absolute honesty. She hides nothing - her self-confessed freakiness, 'misanthropy,' and neuroses, her unhappiness working an empty job in movie production, right through to her greatly enthusiastic and infectious raptures about the joy that a simple little cake, lovingly prepared, can bring to someone's day. I think it'd be impossible not to warm to her, she comes across as so sincere and so human. She freely confesses her many cock-ups, is honest about not wanting to share her bread-and-butter best recipe, but generously provides recipes for just about everything else, comprehensively detailed with plenty of tips and useful pointers. As usual, there's the slightly sticky wicket of the American 'cups' issue, which will drive you mad very quickly, but Gesine often uses European measurements, too, and she also includes conversion tables at the back of the book which help take some of the hair-tugging frustration out of it.

It's tempting to skim through and focus on the recipes, but if you start reading each chapter in earnest, it's very hard not to be drawn into the world of her Vermont bakery and taken up with all the daily trials and dramas and triumphs she shares, not to mention many very funny stories - look out for the heavy-breathing phone pest with a fetish for pastries anecdote! It's also very interesting, and moving, to hear about the impact her mother and her grandmother have had on her relationship with food, and the recipes that were passed from generation to generation. Patisserie is quite clearly a vocation for her, a real passion and far more than just a job. If you share a little of that sweet-toothed fanaticism, then it's lovely to read the thoughts of a kindred spirit.

It's hard to pick a favourite recipe from the book, but I've tried several now and been very impressed with most - there's a number that I would love to try but they're real 'statement' gateaux and would take an amateur like me probably a couple of days to finish, so they'll require advanced planning just to attempt! But if I had to recommend one recipe that's given me a lot of pleasure, it'd be the simplest one - Raspberry Meringues. I don't know why, but I'd just never have thought of adding raspberries to meringue mixture before cooking. Probably would've been scared. But I've made so many of them now, and they're maybe the most popular treat I have on stand-by in the pantry, for kids and adults alike. Everyone demands a raspberry meringue. So, many thanks to Gesine for sharing that recipe in particular, and I have to heartily recommend it to everyone else!

The author was caught up in the Hollywood machine and not enjoying it even though she was living the sort of life which many people might envy. So on impulse she decided to quit and set up her own bakery and coffee shop in Vermont in a small town called Montpelier. This is the story of what happened when she followed her dream.

The bonus is that you get lots of fantastically yummy sounding recipes. Yes they do have American measurements but there are conversion charts at the end so that if you live in the UK you can still make these cakes and cookies.

I enjoyed reading this book and loved reading about all the luscious cakes and pastries. The staff she employed were characters too, including one washer up who ran away to join the circus. She started to wonder whether being a washer up put a jinx on people as many ended up in prison or with mental problems - others were good and progressed to working in the shop.

The reader gains an insight into the author's previous life when she was working in Hollywood and as a child of immigrant parents with a mother who insisted on eating very healthy foods except when it was a special occasion. This is an enjoyable read for anyone who likes baking or reading autobiography.

Gesine Bullock-Prado is the sister of film star, Sandra Bullock. For nine years she ran her sister's film production company but became increasingly disillusioned with Hollywood and decided to move to Vermont and open her own bakery.

Warning: this is not a good book to eat if you are hungry, or if you are a complete and utter cake and pastry addict like me. Her descriptions of food are delicious and the recipes made me want to try them out.

This is quite a charming book. Gesine's passion for pastries really showed, and it seems that it dates back to her childhood and her German grandmother. I loved her stories of life in the bakery, the people who work there and her customers. It's not a book with any real substance, but it's a very pleasurable read.