‘If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done before’ – Thomas Jefferson.
This time last year I’d just signed a cookbook deal with my publisher, Orion. I had an enthusiastic editor, a slightly scary deadline and a rough proposal consisting of 100 recipes – some of which I could make with my eyes closed, most of which I’d only tasted in my dreams. Thousands of words, dozens of kilos of butter, sugar, cream and chocolate and countless sleepless nights later, I’m slightly speechless to confirm that I DID IT!!!
My debut cookbook, Homemade Memories: Childhood Treats With a Twist, will publish on 4th June 2015. It’s a collection of all my favourite childhood indulgences recreated with a homemade twist, from comfort classics to homemade versions of shop-bought treats. The recipes are woven together with some of my very favourite memories, because the best food is nothing without the stories that surround it.
About the book
Includes over 100 recipes – all sweet – plus more than 100 full colour photographs (baked and styled by me and shot by the incredible Helen Cathcart) throughout.
The book is divided into eight chapters:
- Crumbs
- Sticky Fingers
- Cakes
- What’s For Pudding?
- The Ice Cream Van
- Midnight Feasts
- Drinks
- Little Loaf Basics
You’ll have to buy it to find out exactly what’s inside (!), but some of my favourite recipes include:
- Peanut Butter Jammie Dodgers
- Banoffee Pecan Eclairs
- Jaffa Orange Cakes
- Malted Milk Chocolate Ice Cream Balls
- Jam-Packed Doughnuts
- Fig & Rye Rock Buns
- Triple Chocolate Caterpillar Cake
- Pear & Pecan Treacle Tart
- Rhubarb Jelly & Ice Cream with Cardamom Crunch
- Caramelised Rice Pudding Pots
- Greek Yoghurt Soft Serve
- Milk Chocolate & Honey Nougat
I appreciate that June is still a long way off, but for any eager readers (hi Mum, hi Dad) who’d like to show some support five months out from publication, Homemade Memories is available to pre-order from the following retailers:
Amazon.co.uk (UK)
Waterstones.com (UK)
Amazon.com (US)
Bookworld (Australia)
Booktopia (Australia)
The Book Depository (Worldwide)
In the meantime, I’m working on a little bonus project and I want to hear from YOU. Tell me your favourite childhood treat in the comments below – whether it’s a cake, chocolate, biscuit, sweet, drink or more – and you might just see it recreated here on the blog.
Looks fabulous, bet that’s a great feeling x
Your book looks and sounds (can’t wait for the jaffa orange cakes recipe!!) absolutely lovely, Kate! Huge congrats on this achievement! You should be proud of yourself. So, so proud.
Many congratulations Kate. A lot of hard work but well worth it. I am almost at the end of my second book so I can relate to the stresses involved. I shall have to get myself a copy of yours, such tempting recipes. Good luck
Thanks Lynn. Your first book is absolutely gorgeous so can’t wait to see the second! x
Congratulations Kate what a HUGE achievement.
Having really enjoyed your blog and recipies over the last couple of years, I look forward to getting my hands on a copy when it is released. Your childhood has always sounded rather idyllic which must have been wonderful. 🙂
Aw, thanks Janet 🙂
Huge congratulations! It must be the most exciting thing in the world. If I ever manage to open up my dream cafe in Barnes, do you fancy providing all the treats?!
One childhood memory i have is of horrible trips to the dentist, but always having the smile put back on my face as we got to go into the newsagent next door that had the most amazing pick’a’mix selection – my favourites always being the blue and pink cola bottles and the shandy bottles… now that would be a challenge to recreate either of those!
Looking forward to trying out recipes from your cookbook next year – comes out right in time for my birthday. How convenient. 🙂
Ha, yes, I would absolutely love to 🙂
Massive congratulations! Looks amazing 🙂
Wow it looks fantastic. What a great cover! Can’t wait till it comes out!
The book looks amazing – congratulations! I look forward to hearing more about it in due course. I must say I always liked a Twix but ultimately found them a little disappointing. Do you think you could make it more into a millionaire’s shortbread, with crumbly shortbread and a bit of salted caramel, encased in chocolate?! Sounds like a much better version to me! Or more recently I used to like the Gu little bites with flapjack and caramel covered in chocolate (a bit of a theme here), but I can’t find them any more, which is a shame. Perhaps instead of a shortbread base for the new Twix there could be a flapjack base? I think I may need to do some experimenting myself…!
Ha, great minds! There’s a millionaire’s ‘Twix’ shortbread in the book made with Earl Grey tea caramel…
CONGRATULATIONSSSSSS! So exciting, and your cover looks AMAZING.
Kate, you’re an inspiration. I have thought about a book for a long time, but you’ve gone and done it. I’m preordering today x
I will definitely be buying this and it looks absolutely gorgeous. I love the sound of that pear & pecan tart and banoffee anything will do me.
As for childhood treats- I recall a powdered pudding called ‘Chillo’ that was like an uber Angel Delight. I’d love a version of the strawberry one.
i also used to buy these logs of peppermint honeycomb encased in chocolate- cheap, huge and deeply deeply synthetic BUT they have potential to be remade.
Also Thorntons used to sell chocolate covered dates. Rich dark chocolate covering vanilla sweetened minced date. Yum.
I think we’re on the same wavelength as there are a grown up Angel Delight, honeycomb and peppermint thins in the book 🙂
Yeah! What fantastic news. Congratulations! And I love the creative chapter titles! Can’t wait to see it!
Looks so great Kate. I spent quite a fortune on wham bars and apple frosties at that corner shop in Hammersmith on the walk to the 33 after school! I do miss Lion Bars and Drifters as well if you fancy trying a gluten free version of them…. or those Dutch stroopwafels the tuck shop sold which you can put over a cup of tea….? #celiathecoeliac xx
Oh wow, Wham bars. That takes me back! All these ideas are BRILLIANT, will add to the list xx
Just popped it in my amazon basket. Looks amazing! Will enjoy reading it in June -well done
Woohoo!
Congratulations Kate! This looks like a stunning book full of delicious recipes and so true to your style. I can’t wait to get a copy.
Well done Kate it looks fantastic, I can’t wait to see it in the shops!
Seriously SO EXCITED for this book. The cover is beautiful! As for fave childhood treats, I lived on Koala Yummies and strawberry milk for waaaaayy too long (like, a decade). So much sugar, but so much yum. 😉
Thanks Stephanie! I’ve never had a Koala Yummie but I do know the joys of strawberry milk 🙂
Oh this looks amazing! I’m so excited for this book! Can’t wait till it’s out!
So so SO beautiful, Kate!!!!! All the congratulations in the world to you — it looks like it’s going to be the most wonderful book!
Have followed your lovely blog for over a year so will definitely be buying your book. Many, many congratulations.
Our childhood favourite treats (unfortunately it was the era when processed food was new and magical) were many and included a two layer chocolate and butterscotch angel delight, arctic roll or snowball buns bought from the Ormo bread van that came every Thursday. Mum did bake though and made the lightest fluffy pavlova for special occasions. Funny how none of these taste as good as they did when we were small!
Hopefully the recipes in my book WILL taste as good as those you remember from when you were small! 🙂 x
Oh doesn’t it just look incredible! You must be so proud right now! All of those recipes sound so very tempting, I can’t wait to buy a copy and try them out.
As a child it had to be ice cream for me. I wasn’t too fussy, strawberry, chocolate. I even loved the rectangles of ice cream that come in a cardboard wrapper. My grandma would always serve it as pudding, sliced off into fat blocks with a bread knife. I loved to stir it into hot puddings like apple crumble and custard – absolute heaven!
I used to love sherbet fountains too, but I hate liquorice, so I’d lick the sherbet off the sherbet stick and give it to my Dad or Grandma to finish off for me!
Jennie
I was all about the ice cream too and EXACTLY the same with sherbet fountains – I’d use the liquorice to get all the last bits of sherbet out then throw it away!
Oh Kata, the cover is gorgeous! As is all the photography. You should be so proud!!! I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Any word on an Australian release date?
Thank you Jennifer! I’m waiting for an update from my publisher on international release dates and will let you know asap 🙂 If for any reason it’s not available in Oz I can send you one xxx
Congratulations! Oh I am so excited to get my hands on a copy! All those beautiful photographs, and the tantalising thought of 100 more sweet recipes to try!
Your book looks lovely, I am looking forward to hearing and seeing more!
It is so difficult to pick a favourite childhood treat as so many stick out. I was going to go with my Mum’s drop scones but do you remember the little pots you used to get (in fact I think you can still get them) with biscuits on one side and chocolate sauce on the other for dipping? They were always a treat. And for a while there was a toffee one.
The book looks gorgeous! Congratulations on getting it finished, can’t wait to see it!
Hurrah! It looks amazing and all of the recipes sound so delicious and unique – I can tell already that this book is going to be a runaway success! I absolutely can’t wait to start baking from it xo
Yippee! I’ll bring you a sampler when we go for supper 🙂 x
You should be really, really proud of yourself. Congratulations!
I am! So so so happy with how it’s turned out and can’t wait for you to see a copy 🙂 x
Neither can I!
“midnight feasts” sounds so cozy!!!
Congratulations! June will be here in no time at all, and the whirlwind will really hit full force!! I’ve been reading your blog since I was 16 and it was one of the first that inspired me to create my own .. can’t wait to get your cookbook and see more amazing recipes. L x
That’s so sweet, thank you 🙂 So excited for you to see the book!
So exciting, and congrats on such a beautiful cover!
Absolutely amazing! You were my inspiration when I started my blog and I can’t wait to get my hands on your cookbook x
Aw, what a lovely comment. I cant wait for you to get your hands on it too! x
Congratulations on the book!
My favorite childhood recipe was my Mom’s apple kuchin or my Nanny’s Lemon Merinque Pie.
The book looks absolutely beautiful, congratulations!
Pink wafers are a vivid reminder of my childhood, they were just so appealing to children – bright pink, sickly sweet and only ever bought out at special occasions, particularly birthday parties. I’ve not had the heart to buy a packet and try them as an adult for I fear they won’t be quite as good as I remember.
I TRIED to recreate pink wafers for the book and kept on failing. Maybe one day I’ll perfect a recipe I’m happy with, but I fear it would involve far too much sugar and food dye!
Yay, yay, yay!
Congratulations, Kate! I’m so looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of your book, and from what I saw in this post it’s going to be incredible. Your styling is so lovely 🙂
Congratulations! look lovely, I love the photos and I want to take a big bite of this book!
Warmest congratulations on this fine achievement. It is lovely to know that you have so enjoyed putting this book together. You must have worked so hard to meet the deadlines. I wish you every success when the book is published. Your proud godfather Dominique.
I’ve loved all the little sneak peeks on Instagram – how very excited you must be! Congrats!
As someone said above, massive congratulations Kate! Can’t wait to have it!
Your cookbook is going to be so gorgeous! I’m so excited and happy for you. Congrats on all of your hard work paying off:-)
Thanks Lauren 🙂 x
I am late to the party – bummer, I hate my RSS feed – but I come to celebrate nonetheless. The book sounds absolutely fantastic, Kate, and I cannot wait to start cooking from it. Recipes and photography – it all looks so so very appealing! As for sweet childhood memories, I wrote a bit about them here http://www.mylifelovefood.com/2013/03/easter-pastiera.html – no doubt, the strongest memory I have in relation to something sweet is the first bite of a flowery, sweet, delicious Pastiera.
Thanks Valeria! That pastiera looks so so good, yum x
Congratulations! I absolutely love the cover, it really made me smile!!
I cant help you with a favourite childhood treat, unless salty things count, I don’t have a sweet tooth!!
The only thing I can think of is our Brussels waffles, light and airy and slightly salty, topped with thick cream in every hole. So. Good.
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