DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

A Half Baked Idea

Winner of the Fortnum & Mason’s Debut Food Book Award

Olivia Potts author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd

Published:30th Jul '20

Should be back in stock very soon

A Half Baked Idea cover

A moving, heartwarming and exquisitely funny memoir about one woman's journey from criminal barrister to p?tissi?re

WINNER OF THE FORTNUM & MASON'S DEBUT FOOD BOOK AWARD

'A tender and beautifully written tour-de-force on love, grief, hope and cake. If this is not the book of the summer, I will eat my wig. An absolute triumph' THE SECRET BARRISTER

'An utterly beautiful, moving, bittersweet book on love and loss. I loved it' DOLLY ALDERTON

--_

Olivia Potts' mother died when she just twenty-five. Stricken with grief, she did something life changing and rather ridiculous: she gave up a high-flying legal career to study at the notoriously difficult Le Cordon Bleu, despite not being able to cook. No one ever told Olivia you couldn't bake your way to happiness - but could you?
--_

'A brilliant, brave and beautiful book: funny and charming; utterly inspiring and life-affirming' Olivia Sudjic

'A heart-wrenching yet humorous portrayal of grief, a delicious collection of recipes, an inspirational tale of changing careers, and a feel good love story' Vogue

'Funny, sharp and sad. I laughed so much (and I cried)' Ella Risbridger, author of Midnight Chicken

'An honest, brave and funny account of what it is to love, to lose love and how to make macarons' Red

A heart-warming book about death and new beginnings that will delight cake lovers; it manages to be moving, funny and mouth-watering in equal measure - a difficult literary confection to master * Guardian *
I laughed, I cried, I baked gingerbread biscuits. Potts is a writer who clasps you to her floury bosom and wraps you in your apron strings. There is wit and warmth on every page. This is a book of courage, consolation and more custard than you can shake a whisk at * Laura Freeman, Times *
Tender . . . filled with the comfort we all seek when dealing with grief * Stylist *
An honest, brave and funny account of what it is to love, to lose love and how to make macarons * Red *
I cannot express how much I adored this book. It made me laugh, cry, salivate and, on no less than four occasions, resolve to learn patisserie and leave the criminal Bar. Olivia Potts has delivered a tender and beautifully written tour-de-force on the four tenets of the human experience; love, grief, hope and cake. If this is not the book of the summer, I will eat my wig. An absolute triumph * The Secret Barrister *
A heart-wrenching yet humorous portrayal of grief, a delicious collection of recipes, an inspirational tale of changing careers, and a feel good love story * Vogue *
I loved it so much. It's funny, sharp, sad and full of clear observations about food. I laughed so much (and I cried) * Ella Risbridger, author of Midnight Chicken *
A brilliant, brave and beautiful book: funny and charming; utterly inspiring and life-affirming. I loved it * Olivia Sudjic *
Potts writes powerfully about the nature of grief, yet she has the lightest of touches with her sensuous descriptions of food. A delightful read - and there are some terrific recipes in it, too * Daily Mail *
Uplifting . . . tender * i *
An utterly beautiful, moving, bittersweet book on love and loss. I loved it * Dolly Alderton *
Heartbreaking and heartwarming in turns, it's a candid account of dealing with bereavement * Waitrose Weekend *
An open-hearted, uproariously funny, moving love story. It will make you laugh and cry in equal measure, and fall in love with baking, with eating, and with love itself. A remarkable book by an enormously talented writer * Kate Young, author of The Little Library Cookbook *
Honest, humorous and peppered with great recipes * Delicious *
Her writing inspires resilience * Woman & Home *
She writes with the precision required of a pastry chef. . . finely observed descriptions of texture, taste and smell. A love story, with sadness, humour and tension. Uplifting * Prue Leith, Spectator *
There are plenty of laughs, and her unfolding relationship with Sam is a joy * Country Life *

ISBN: 9780241380468

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 22mm

Weight: 255g

368 pages