Mar 25, 2020
Charlotte Ree once ate 30 different kinds of croissants during a trip to France – then got a croissant tattoo afterwards. She's so dedicated to pastries that she'll stay up until 5:30am to finish a baking marathon. Pulling 120 cakes out of the oven during the hours people reserve for sleeping – and then going to work the next day, as communications manager for Pan Macmillan (the publisher of Hetty McKinnon's cookbooks) – well, that's just a normal whirlwind day for Charlotte.
Charlotte's love of all things sweet is clear on every page of
Just Desserts, her latest
cookbook. It features recipes for Nutella thumbprint cookies, peach
and raspberry tray cake, tiramisu swiss rolls and chocolate ganache
Bundt (Charlotte likes big Bundts and she can not lie). Just
Desserts also includes "a nod to the king of biscuits" and is
laced and frosted with a good dose of puns (sieve the day)!
Charlotte talks about how to land a cookbook deal (when you're not
a celebrity chef), being on the publicity trail with Hetty
McKinnon, as well as Charlotte's personal baking triumphs, fails
and memorable moments. Plus, we take an express trip to her
favourite patisseries around the world (I've saved her Tokyo
recommendations for my next trip)!
Note: this was recorded a few months ago, before the current
pandemic and lockdown hit. So, social distancing is paramount, but
please take note of eateries you can still responsibly support as
they need the help right now. And there's plenty in the podcast
archive (the Christina Tosi episode, the one
with Lune Croissanterie's Kate Reid!) if you're keen for a
self-isolation soundtrack or audio company during this
unprecedented time.