I saw this book at a local bookstore on the “What the Staff is Reading” shelf. I picked it up thinking it would be great for Cook the Books. When I got home with it, I realized that it was already the August/September selection, hosted by Claudia from Honey From Rock. I had totally forgotten. At leaste I a was prepared for this round!

About the book:

“As cozy as a cup of tea and cake.”—People

“One of those books you just want to hug to your chest. I loved it so much.”—Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling author of While We Were Dating

A huge-hearted, redemptive coming-of-old-age tale, a love story, and an ode to good food

Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard’s health declines, and her friends’ lives become focused on their grandchildren—which Jenny never had—Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes.

Whisked into an unfamiliar world of cameras and timed challenges, Jenny delights in a new-found independence. But that independence, and the stress of the competition, starts to unearth memories buried decades ago. Chocolate teacakes remind her of a furtive errand involving a wedding ring; sugared doughnuts call up a stranger’s kind act; a simple cottage loaf brings back the moment her life changed forever.

With her baking star rising, Jenny struggles to keep a lid on that first secret—a long-concealed deceit that threatens to shatter the very foundations of her marriage. It’s the only time in six decades that she’s kept something from Bernard. By putting herself in the limelight, has Jenny created a recipe for disaster? (from Penquin-Random House)

About the author:

Olivia Ford has spent a decade in entertainment TV, including Made in Chelsea and Love Island. Olivia is a graduate of the Faber Academy, where she wrote the beginnings of Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame, which was long-listed for the 2021 Women’s Prize Trust’s Discoveries Prize. Raised in Lincolnshire, Olivia now lives in London.

What I thought…

If you love The Great British Bake Off, you will love this book. Mrs. Quinn enters and is chosen to compete in Britain Bakes, a fictionalized almost exact copy of the popular Bake Off. While the judges might not resemble Paul and Prue exactly, the hosts are almost exact copies. Mo is a total twin to Noel and Katie could be any of the straight women that have played alongside him. Ford does put a twist on the contest; the top two winners each week compete for the Golden Whisk and immunity. I was a bit surprised that Ford could get away with copying the Bake Off so much without a major disclaimer.

The book is more than just a story about an elderly woman entering a national contest. It’s about Jenny’s (Mrs. Quinn) validation.

Her heart flooded with the urgency of their dwindling existence. She felt the painful truth of her age, of having reached a point where there was far more of life behind her than ahead of her. (7)

Jenny acts and takes the reins to prove she still has some life (and baking) left in her.

It’s also a tale about family and finding family through recipes and how those recipes keep one’s remembrances alive.

It’s strange, she thought, how recipes outlive the people that wrote them and yet they almost bring a part of that person back to life, as if a tiny piece of their soul lives in those instructions. (3)

As a young girl, she records her favorite family recipes in a notebook that will play a major role in the novel’s denouement.

I was rooting for Jenny throughout but I did lose a bit of patience with her as she keeps her entry in the contest a secret from her husband, close family, and friends. It seems like Bernard and Jenny do have the perfect marriage. I mean, they have survived together for 60 years. Besides entering Britian Bakes, Jenny is still afraid to confide her darkest secret to him.

I did like the way that Ford applied the alternating time frame and storylines. Each chapter (and each memory) is marked by a specific food.

Azeez, her main competition and closest ally, is a refreshing, bright and kind character. He and Jenny spend a lot of time bonding together and the two morph into “Jazeez” (as dubbed by Mo).

The ultimate resolution of the novel was a bit predictable but I enjoyed this cozy little book.

The Food:

Even without the Britain Bakes competition, there would have been a lot of food in the novel. Jenny is a baker that loves her family recipes. Ironically, the two recipes that are included in the back of the novel are non-bake ones: Quinn’s Crunch (an upgraded rice krispie treat) and Grandma Aubrey’s Chocolate Crispy Cakes (a no-bake cornflake concoction).

I really did think that was a bit strange. I was hoping for one of Jenny’s competition recipes like the rhubarb and custard drizzled mini cakes, the chocolate and orange Battenburgs, the brandy snaps with key lime custard, or the blackcurrant jam doughnuts with elderflower sugar. Even some of her family recipes like her dad’s tiffin recipe or the Cut and Come Again cake.

I reserched both of these latter recipes and actually found some of Merry Berry’s recipes. In the end, though, I decided myself to go with a non-baked item, a tiffin.

Pantry Tiffin

Based on Chocolate Tiffin Recipe 

Ingredients

• 3 ¾ c. crunchy things*
• ¾ c. + 2 T. butter
• 1/3 c. pure date syrup
• 1/3 c. + 1 T.  cocoa powder
• 3 T.  sugar
• ¼ t. cinnamon
• 1 c. + 2 T.  dried cranberries
• 1 ¾ c.  semi-sweet chocolate chips

*I used 1 cup honey-cinnamon cracker, 1 cup mini pretzels and rounded out with trail mix. 

Instructions

1. Grease and line a 8” square glass pan with parchment paper.
2. Put the crunchy items into a sealable  bag and bash them with a rolling pin to break them up a bit. They should be mostly broken into fine crumbs, but you can leave a few larger chunks.
3. Add the butter, date syrup, sugar and cocoa powder to a large saucepan. Melt everything together over a low heat, stirring frequently.
4. Once the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth, remove the pan from the heat and add the crunchy stuff  and cranberries. Stir everything together well so the mixture is completely coated in the butter mixture.
5. Transfer the mixture to your prepared pan and press it down into a compact even layer with the back of a spoon.
6. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between. Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the tiffin base, smoothing it out into an even layer.
7. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and put the pan in the fridge for at least 2 hours to allow everything to set.
8. To prevent the chocolate layer on top from cracking when you cut into it, allow the tiffin to come to room temperature again before slicing. Slice up into 16 squares and enjoy!

Yield: 16

This is totally non-traditional. Golden syrup? What is that? I used date syrup instead of this British staple. I added a bit of cinnamon to the cocoa-butter mixture because I didn’t have enough of the honey-cinnamon crackers. Instead of raisins, I used dried cranberries.

Thoughts: these were good but I would crush my ingredients a bit more next time.

---

Thanks to Claudia for hosting this book! Join us in October/November when quest host Marg (The Intrepid Reader & Baker) is hosting The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood (February 2024).

I’m linking up with Foodie Reads for September.