Pavlova in a Hatbox: Sweet Memories & Desserts
Cynthia Neale’s Pavlova in a Hat Box, Sweet Memories & Desserts is a collection of classic and new sumptuous dessert recipes redolent of the comfort of old-fashioned fare, but with a modern twist. A lyrical miscellany of stories and meditations wrested from a country childhood and a writing life accompany the recipes.
The vignettes mine the soul and both the recipes and essays nurture the reader/baker. It isn’t a coincidence that stressed spelled backwards is desserts and Cynthia Neale encourages the baker to celebrate the sublime and simple moments of life with Blueberry Lemon Mascarpone Muffins, Spiffy Spiced Molasses Cookies, Pure Carat Gold Carrot Cake, and many more recipes.
There are easy recipes and more challenging ones, and Neale encourages you to be at ease, creative, and to make the recipes with individual flare. The author suggests decorating a cake with ribbons and flowers, gathering material from the home to make dessert a memory of delectable beauty. Cynthia Neale is a skilled baker, but also a writer of historical fiction. She reveals how the kitchen is where story ideas, chapter scenes, and plots form while she shapes, molds, and bakes. The author writes about baking through rejection, baking for ceilis (Irish house dances), for friends, for hope, and from childhood memory.
From Whacky Cake and Whoopie Pies to Cinnamon-Scented Chocolate Cake Wrapped in Ribbons, Pavlova in a Hat Box is filled with recipes that are delectable, nostalgic, and wholesome. The cheerful and whimsical illustrations and art work by Maggie Martin are accented throughout the book and along with this extraordinary memoir dessert cookbook, original piano music by Linn Brown will be made available.
Pavlova in a Hat Box, Sweet Memories & Desserts is a book for dreamers who desire to bake and memorialize the beauty of each day of their lives.