Confessions of a Love-Struck Reader

I mentioned that I love to bake. What I didn’t reveal was my deepest, most secret desire: to own a bakery and coffee shop. Just a small one; red brick walls, glossy wooden floors, lovely little cakes and tarts and pastries hugging each other in neat rows behind glass. Myself, wearing a white apron streaked with chocolate, flour in my hair and on my face, my hands covered with sticky layers of dough. And the smell of coffee and sugar and vanilla everywhere.

So you can imagine that my heart skipped a beat when I saw Confections of Closet Master Baker: A Memoir in the “New Books” section of my library. I was so enthralled that at first I didn’t even notice the Confections in the title, reading it as the traditional Confessions. How clever! I thought later, when I fell so in love with this book that I wanted to memorize everything about it.

I skipped all the traditional courting rituals that come with selecting a book that I’ll commit a precious block of my time to--reading the first paragraph, paging through to see whether the prose catches my eye, lingering over the book jacket description, flipping to the back pages to find the author’s bio—and instead popped it into my book bag without a second thought. I am so glad that I did.

Biting into Confections of Closet Master Baker is just as satisfying as the packaging promises. It’s well-written, it’s interesting and entertaining, and—be still my heart—it has recipes. It’s not a cookbook; it is a story about, as the blurb on the front of the book declares, “One Woman’s Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker.”

I’ll admit to a moment of doubt early on when the author mentioned her famous-actor “sister.” It was only then that I even bothered to look at her name: Gesine Bullock-Prado. Oh. Well. Of course she opened a bakery and got a book published; she’s not a regular person after all. Later, after Gesine wooed me back by infusing every ounce of her story with the kind of joy that many of us feel when creating something we love, I was embarrassed that I had doubted her.

This is how much I love this book: I’m going to return the library’s copy and go directly to the bookstore to buy my own. Or two; I know I’ll run across a kindred baker-soul who will enjoy this book as much as I do. I feel like Gesine Bullock-Prado, the author of Confections of Closet Master Baker, has given me a gift, and I want to pass that gift along. It’s the same kind of desire that prompts me to create rich and luscious chocolate cakes and buttery coconut cookies and then feed them to people, just to watch their faces light up with pleasure.

When I get back from the bookstore, I’m going to read the book all over again. But this time, I’ll make a pot of coffee from freshly ground beans. I’ll set out a little plate of rosemary-lemon cookies, and the fancy creamer that usually collects dust in the cabinet. And I’ll savor all over again the pleasure that is this book.

And what did you find pleasurable today?

P.S.: In the spirit of Confections, here’s the recipe for Rosemary-Lemon Cookies:
1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg yolk, well beaten
1/2 t. vanilla
2 T. fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
1-3/4 t. grated lemon rind
1/8 t. salt
Confectioner’s sugar

Cut butter into the flour with a pastry blender (or two knives, or a fork) until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the egg yolk and the vanilla, then the rosemary, lemon rind, and salt and blend. Shape the dough into rolls on parchment or wax paper (I like small cookies, so I make the rolls about 1” in diameter) and wrap. Refrigerate for several hours (or, ideally, overnight).

Slice the rolls about 1/4” thick and place the slices on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with Confectioner’s sugar (optional; the sugar makes the cookies a little sweeter, but creates a really lovely glaze on top).

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Enjoy!