Photo by Johnny Miller
Claudia Fleming’s first book, The Last Course, written almost a quarter of a century ago, when Fleming was the much-lauded pastry chef at the Gramercy Tavern in New York, occupies a hallowed position in my unruly cookbook collection — though it’s hardly just me who feels that way! I can’t imagine there is a passionate pastry chef alive who doesn’t regard it (and her) as an enduring inspiration. I think it’s fair to say it changed the game; I used to feel I could taste if the pastry chef in any restaurant I went to had a copy in their kitchen. It’s a book with iconic status — and deservedly.
What I adore about this, her new book, is that it speaks most directly not to the professional, but to those of us who bake at home. It has, as ever, her confidence-imbuing authority, exquisite taste, and methodical clarity but it’s also warm, cosy and full of heart. There’s so much I want to bake and eat! I shall try to keep this list at a manageable length, but I must just murmur a few sweet nothings in your ear: Plum and Almond Cake; Quince Goat-Cheese Cake; Fennel Tea Cake (with Pernod Whipped Cream!); Espresso Shortbread with Cocoa Nibs; Oatmeal Cookies with Sour Cherries; Peach and Raspberry Crostata; Lemon Pie with Coconut; Chocolate Caramel Tart with Peanuts (a reworking of her much-copied classic); Olive Oil Semifreddo; and Roasted Peaches with Caramel and Cherries. But the book also revels in the most gorgeous array of savoury bakes: Sweet Potato Rolls with Miso; Escarole Pie; Potato Flambé Tart (which is calling to me particularly); Tomato Crostata; Onion and Poppyseed Kiffles, to name just a few. I nearly plumped for one of these to share with you today but, in the end, her Devil’s Food Cake with Earl Grey Cream won the day!
Excerpted from Delectable by Claudia Fleming with Catherine Young.
Copyright © 2022 by Claudia Fleming. Photographs copyright © 2022 by Johnny Miller.
Excerpted by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
