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A Half Baked Idea: Winner of the Fortnum & Mason’s Debut Food Book Award
Brought to you by Penguin.
At the moment her mother died, Olivia Potts was baking a cake. She was trying to impress the man who would later become her husband. Meanwhile, 275 miles away, her mother was dying.
In the grief-stricken months that followed, Olivia came home from her job as a criminal barrister miserable and tired, and baked soda bread, pizza, and chocolate banana cake. Even when it went badly (which was often), cooking brought her comfort. So she concocted a she would begin a newer, happier life, filled with fewer magistrates and more macarons. She left the bar for Le Cordon Bleu, plunging headfirst into the eccentric world of patisserie. Interspersed with recipes ranging from passionfruit pavlova to her mother's shepherd's pie, this is a heart-breaking, hilarious, life-affirming memoir about dealing with grief, falling in love and learning how to bake a really, really good cake.
At the moment her mother died, Olivia Potts was baking a cake. She was trying to impress the man who would later become her husband. Meanwhile, 275 miles away, her mother was dying.
In the grief-stricken months that followed, Olivia came home from her job as a criminal barrister miserable and tired, and baked soda bread, pizza, and chocolate banana cake. Even when it went badly (which was often), cooking brought her comfort. So she concocted a she would begin a newer, happier life, filled with fewer magistrates and more macarons. She left the bar for Le Cordon Bleu, plunging headfirst into the eccentric world of patisserie. Interspersed with recipes ranging from passionfruit pavlova to her mother's shepherd's pie, this is a heart-breaking, hilarious, life-affirming memoir about dealing with grief, falling in love and learning how to bake a really, really good cake.
At the moment her mother died, Olivia Potts was baking a cake. She was trying to impress the man who would later become her husband. Meanwhile, 275 miles away, her mother was dying.
In the grief-stricken months that followed, Olivia came home from her job as a criminal barrister miserable and tired, and baked soda bread, pizza, and chocolate banana cake. Even when it went badly (which was often), cooking brought her comfort. So she concocted a she would begin a newer, happier life, filled with fewer magistrates and more macarons. She left the bar for Le Cordon Bleu, plunging headfirst into the eccentric world of patisserie. Interspersed with recipes ranging from passionfruit pavlova to her mother's shepherd's pie, this is a heart-breaking, hilarious, life-affirming memoir about dealing with grief, falling in love and learning how to bake a really, really good cake.
At the moment her mother died, Olivia Potts was baking a cake. She was trying to impress the man who would later become her husband. Meanwhile, 275 miles away, her mother was dying.
In the grief-stricken months that followed, Olivia came home from her job as a criminal barrister miserable and tired, and baked soda bread, pizza, and chocolate banana cake. Even when it went badly (which was often), cooking brought her comfort. So she concocted a she would begin a newer, happier life, filled with fewer magistrates and more macarons. She left the bar for Le Cordon Bleu, plunging headfirst into the eccentric world of patisserie. Interspersed with recipes ranging from passionfruit pavlova to her mother's shepherd's pie, this is a heart-breaking, hilarious, life-affirming memoir about dealing with grief, falling in love and learning how to bake a really, really good cake.
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First published July 25, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
November 22, 2019
Bereavement memoir + ‘foodoir’ (foodie memoir) = a perfect book for me. Potts left one very interesting career (criminal barrister) for another (pastry chef and wedding caterer). Losing her mother when she was 25 and meeting her future husband, Sam, who put time and care into cooking, were the immediate spurs to trade in her wig and gown for a chef’s apron. She ended up making her own four-tier wedding cake!* Each chapter ends with a recipe; I loved reading about the intricate patisseries she crafted for practicals and exams during her year at Le Cordon Bleu, but it’s doubtful I’d attempt to recreate most of them (the soufflé, tarte tatin and choux buns all look awfully complicated). I think the Banana and Rolo cake is the recipe I’m most likely to make – “I’d prescribe banana bread for grief,” she writes. “It has everything you need: stodge for heartache, sugar for wobbliness, and potassium for fatigue.” Even the instructions are full of funny little asides: “Cream the butter and sugars together using a stand mixer, a hand-held mixer, or a spatula and determination.” In general, I liked the food writing more than the pronouncements about grief (it’s so hard to say anything fresh about it), but this is a really charming book more people should know about.
*From bottom: cardamom cake with coffee buttercream; sticky ginger with caramelized biscuit icing; rosemary and honey cake with burnt buttercream; traditional fruit cake with marzipan and fondant icing; topped with iced gingerbread figures.
A favorite line: “They take all manner of custard seriously at Le Cordon Bleu.”
*From bottom: cardamom cake with coffee buttercream; sticky ginger with caramelized biscuit icing; rosemary and honey cake with burnt buttercream; traditional fruit cake with marzipan and fondant icing; topped with iced gingerbread figures.
A favorite line: “They take all manner of custard seriously at Le Cordon Bleu.”
July 22, 2019
Идеята наистина е недопечена.
Тази книга не е забавна, каквато изглежда по описанията и корицата.
Тя по-скоро е тъжна. Но не въздейства, защото е написана като адвокатско резюме. Оказа се , че това е истинската история на авторката.
По една случайност , една след друга прочетох книги , написани от бивши адвокатки-едната лична, другата измислена. Но измислената беше разбиваща от емоции.
Явно не може винаги да носиш много дини под една мишница.
Тази книга не е забавна, каквато изглежда по описанията и корицата.
Тя по-скоро е тъжна. Но не въздейства, защото е написана като адвокатско резюме. Оказа се , че това е истинската история на авторката.
По една случайност , една след друга прочетох книги , написани от бивши адвокатки-едната лична, другата измислена. Но измислената беше разбиваща от емоции.
Явно не може винаги да носиш много дини под една мишница.
September 3, 2019
Pastry is pure pleasure to give and to receive. It is almost always a celebration, even if it’s just a small one. * Puddings aren’t sustenance. Puddings are joy. * Puddings are emotional. They are bound up in memory and nostalgia.
The subtitle of A Half-Baked Idea immediately gives the reader a sense of its contents: How grief, love and cake took me from the courtroom to Le Cordon Bleu.
Author Olivia Potts plunges straight into the heart of the matter: at age 25, and in the final year of her pupillage to become a barrister, she must cope with the sudden and horrendous loss of her mother. I’m not sure that baking actually helps her to cope with her overwhelming grief - although the ‘plot’ seems to suggest it - but it is clear that the criminal court system does not provide the sort of emotional succour that she is needing.
This book is very much about Olivia’s grief process - and she is very specific in the details of how her mother’s death affects her. There is the early stage of trying to cope by being super-competent - for instance, she volunteers to take over the ‘boring admin’ that accompanies death. Then there is her long stage of what she describes, darkly but entertainingly, as ‘Grief Top Trumps’. And finally, there is the actual therapeutic stage of really acknowledging and coping with her grief - and no doubt writing this book was as therapeutic as exploring her feelings with a therapist.
The first half of this book is very much about her mother, her own mourning process, and frankly, perhaps rather too many details about the Old Bailey, wigs, commuting and the British court system. The second half of the book deals mostly with the intensive pastry course ‘Diplome de Patisserie’ at the Cordon Bleu cooking school. The device which links them is recipes, which are sprinkled throughout. I don’t know if Nora Ephron was the first to do this, in her classic Heartburn, but Ephron’s ‘roman a clef’ definitely comes to mind.
Olivia Potts is at pains to tell her readers that she does not come from a particularly ‘foodie’ background, nor does she have a mother who cared overmuch for cooking. The early recipes (a banana cake with Rolos in it) and her mother’s recipe for Shepherd’s Pie (which includes baked beans, to my horror) definitely come under the category of ‘home cooking’ - and that with a Northern slant. (I did like the way that Potts talks about her Northern background without the need to make a joke of it or be defensive of it in any way.) As the book evolves, and as Potts becomes moulded by the rigours of the Cordon Bleu way of baking, the recipes change and become far more sophisticated and adventurous. And rigid. And ridiculously complex.
Let me now insert myself into this book, as readers tend to do. I, unlike Potts, have always loved baking - and grew up in a house with a mother who loved baking. In the back of my mind, I’ve always had a fascination with the idea of doing just this sort of baking course. In fact, that is probably why I couldn’t wait to get my hot little hands on this book. The reality check was huge, though. The key is probably in this sentence: ”Patisserie is about precision. It’s all about control.” Although Potts plays up her clumsiness and lack of natural baking ability, it’s very clear that she is an ambitious woman with a hell of a lot of drive. I’m not sure that pastry was as much about ‘joy’ for her as it was about control. Frankly, the patisserie course sounded horribly joyless to me - unless, perhaps, for the incredible sense of accomplishment in learning all of these fiddly (and sometimes ridiculous) skills. Give me an apple pie or gingerbread cake any day; the decadent desserts that she learns to create aren’t really something I would want to eat. Not that eating is the point. Anyway, I was surprised at my own response, but I found the detailed descriptions of her culinary adventure probably the least interesting bit of this book. Let me qualify that: they were interesting, but also oddly offputting.
3.75 stars
**
Thanks very much to Olivia at Penguin/Randomhouse for a copy of this book. It was packaged so enticingly with recipe cards and some of the ingredients (Rollos, Biscoff spread and Henderson’s Relish) used in the author’s recipes.
The subtitle of A Half-Baked Idea immediately gives the reader a sense of its contents: How grief, love and cake took me from the courtroom to Le Cordon Bleu.
Author Olivia Potts plunges straight into the heart of the matter: at age 25, and in the final year of her pupillage to become a barrister, she must cope with the sudden and horrendous loss of her mother. I’m not sure that baking actually helps her to cope with her overwhelming grief - although the ‘plot’ seems to suggest it - but it is clear that the criminal court system does not provide the sort of emotional succour that she is needing.
This book is very much about Olivia’s grief process - and she is very specific in the details of how her mother’s death affects her. There is the early stage of trying to cope by being super-competent - for instance, she volunteers to take over the ‘boring admin’ that accompanies death. Then there is her long stage of what she describes, darkly but entertainingly, as ‘Grief Top Trumps’. And finally, there is the actual therapeutic stage of really acknowledging and coping with her grief - and no doubt writing this book was as therapeutic as exploring her feelings with a therapist.
The first half of this book is very much about her mother, her own mourning process, and frankly, perhaps rather too many details about the Old Bailey, wigs, commuting and the British court system. The second half of the book deals mostly with the intensive pastry course ‘Diplome de Patisserie’ at the Cordon Bleu cooking school. The device which links them is recipes, which are sprinkled throughout. I don’t know if Nora Ephron was the first to do this, in her classic Heartburn, but Ephron’s ‘roman a clef’ definitely comes to mind.
Olivia Potts is at pains to tell her readers that she does not come from a particularly ‘foodie’ background, nor does she have a mother who cared overmuch for cooking. The early recipes (a banana cake with Rolos in it) and her mother’s recipe for Shepherd’s Pie (which includes baked beans, to my horror) definitely come under the category of ‘home cooking’ - and that with a Northern slant. (I did like the way that Potts talks about her Northern background without the need to make a joke of it or be defensive of it in any way.) As the book evolves, and as Potts becomes moulded by the rigours of the Cordon Bleu way of baking, the recipes change and become far more sophisticated and adventurous. And rigid. And ridiculously complex.
Let me now insert myself into this book, as readers tend to do. I, unlike Potts, have always loved baking - and grew up in a house with a mother who loved baking. In the back of my mind, I’ve always had a fascination with the idea of doing just this sort of baking course. In fact, that is probably why I couldn’t wait to get my hot little hands on this book. The reality check was huge, though. The key is probably in this sentence: ”Patisserie is about precision. It’s all about control.” Although Potts plays up her clumsiness and lack of natural baking ability, it’s very clear that she is an ambitious woman with a hell of a lot of drive. I’m not sure that pastry was as much about ‘joy’ for her as it was about control. Frankly, the patisserie course sounded horribly joyless to me - unless, perhaps, for the incredible sense of accomplishment in learning all of these fiddly (and sometimes ridiculous) skills. Give me an apple pie or gingerbread cake any day; the decadent desserts that she learns to create aren’t really something I would want to eat. Not that eating is the point. Anyway, I was surprised at my own response, but I found the detailed descriptions of her culinary adventure probably the least interesting bit of this book. Let me qualify that: they were interesting, but also oddly offputting.
3.75 stars
**
Thanks very much to Olivia at Penguin/Randomhouse for a copy of this book. It was packaged so enticingly with recipe cards and some of the ingredients (Rollos, Biscoff spread and Henderson’s Relish) used in the author’s recipes.
August 29, 2019
This was nice but... a bit boring?
February 20, 2021
*audiobook*
*Puns intended throughout*
I devoured this at every possible opportunity, sneaking into the Audible pantry to listen to it whilst I showered, walked, sketched and, of course, baked. The author (and narrator) sounded so much like Phoebe Waller-Bridge that i immediately warmed to her, accepting her anecdotes about life as a baker and a barrister as delicious, addictive treats. Far from being saccharine, this recipe-memoir hybrid depicted grief in truthful, heart-aching terms whilst folding in generous portions of positivity and humour.
It gets 3 Michelin stars from me.
*Puns intended throughout*
I devoured this at every possible opportunity, sneaking into the Audible pantry to listen to it whilst I showered, walked, sketched and, of course, baked. The author (and narrator) sounded so much like Phoebe Waller-Bridge that i immediately warmed to her, accepting her anecdotes about life as a baker and a barrister as delicious, addictive treats. Far from being saccharine, this recipe-memoir hybrid depicted grief in truthful, heart-aching terms whilst folding in generous portions of positivity and humour.
It gets 3 Michelin stars from me.
November 20, 2019
One of my stand out favourites has been A Half Baked Idea by Olivia Potts, a memoir.
When Olivia's mother dies, she starts to question whether the life as a barrister is really the one she wants. Never interested or able in cooking until she met her partner Sam, Olivia begins to reconnect with her mother through her family recipes. As she spends more time in the kitchens, Olivia begins to realise that her true calling is actually in food.
This heart-aching, funny, delightful memoir follows Olivia through the patisserie course at Le Courdon Bleu as she ventures towards a new career and life. The end of each chapter is followed by a recipe by Olivia herself -- I'm planning on making the rolo cake first, and also I want to recommend her Bara Brith recipe which you can find online.
I read the first half the of the book and listened to the other half on audiobook, which is read by Olivia herself, meaning you get to hear all the wonder of her dry wit and brilliance in her own voice. This is a beautiful, honest book about grief and change but also friendship, adventure and new love -- I bawled when I read their engagement story.
This is a perfect book for curling up with over a weekend, armed with a stack of cookies.
Not only that, but you can actually hire the wonder team of Food by Feast>, who are Olivia and Kate, to cater weddings, parties and the like. I have been to one of their supper clubs and it was one of the best meals of my life. Strongly recommend!
When Olivia's mother dies, she starts to question whether the life as a barrister is really the one she wants. Never interested or able in cooking until she met her partner Sam, Olivia begins to reconnect with her mother through her family recipes. As she spends more time in the kitchens, Olivia begins to realise that her true calling is actually in food.
This heart-aching, funny, delightful memoir follows Olivia through the patisserie course at Le Courdon Bleu as she ventures towards a new career and life. The end of each chapter is followed by a recipe by Olivia herself -- I'm planning on making the rolo cake first, and also I want to recommend her Bara Brith recipe which you can find online.
I read the first half the of the book and listened to the other half on audiobook, which is read by Olivia herself, meaning you get to hear all the wonder of her dry wit and brilliance in her own voice. This is a beautiful, honest book about grief and change but also friendship, adventure and new love -- I bawled when I read their engagement story.
This is a perfect book for curling up with over a weekend, armed with a stack of cookies.
Not only that, but you can actually hire the wonder team of Food by Feast>, who are Olivia and Kate, to cater weddings, parties and the like. I have been to one of their supper clubs and it was one of the best meals of my life. Strongly recommend!
July 23, 2019
A beautifully written and unreasonably funny reflection on love, loss, and all the things that happen when your life suddenly changes course. Don't miss it.
Read
August 19, 2021*I don't rate non-fiction as I feel weird rating someone's personal journey and life when they have been so vulnerable to share it with the world in the first place.
The first 50 pages were the best part of the book for me as she spoke about her grief and the loss of her mother, which I connected to, having lost my grandad at the end of last year. However the rest of the book felt a little redundant for me. I was never really that interested in any of it.
What I will say is I thought it was a nice touch to add recipes in at the end of each chapter and I will be trying some out for sure.
The first 50 pages were the best part of the book for me as she spoke about her grief and the loss of her mother, which I connected to, having lost my grandad at the end of last year. However the rest of the book felt a little redundant for me. I was never really that interested in any of it.
What I will say is I thought it was a nice touch to add recipes in at the end of each chapter and I will be trying some out for sure.
September 11, 2021
A book teaming with love. Love for family, love for friends and love for cake and custard.
I fell completely for this book, gobbling it up ferociously and cried so much when it was over.
Thanks to my girly Chloe for sharing this beauty with me 🥰
I fell completely for this book, gobbling it up ferociously and cried so much when it was over.
Thanks to my girly Chloe for sharing this beauty with me 🥰
October 2, 2021
Potts’ record of such a personal journey is very moving and engaging. A fascinating insight into the legal profession and high level patisserie, with some disarmingly relatable observations on grief sprinkled throughout.
January 13, 2021
I really struggled getting through this book and I’m not sure why. I found the mum stuff really hard, for starters, but I just wasn’t engaged in Olivia’s culinary journey at all. I found the descriptions of the practicals too long and far removed. Despite Olivia sharing such personal pain about her mum’s death I still felt at arms length for nearly all of the book.
However, I thought the relationship between Olivia and Sam was so nice and special. Obviously my inner romantic loved her description of marriage:
“Getting married seems to me a mad, hopeful thing. A commitment that we make in the face of statistical evidence to the contrary. And despite being cynical in most of the rest of my life, I think there are few things more moving than seeing two people stand up in front of their friends and say, yes, we’re going to do our best here. Two people who, until two, maybe three years ago, have lived their lives quite contentedly without having met each other. Two people choosing readings and songs and dances and - God, if they want to - chair covers, that say something about them as a couple, that celebrate friendship and partnership and family. That, I think, is pretty wonderful. That they and their friends put into actual words their feelings, their love.”
However, I thought the relationship between Olivia and Sam was so nice and special. Obviously my inner romantic loved her description of marriage:
“Getting married seems to me a mad, hopeful thing. A commitment that we make in the face of statistical evidence to the contrary. And despite being cynical in most of the rest of my life, I think there are few things more moving than seeing two people stand up in front of their friends and say, yes, we’re going to do our best here. Two people who, until two, maybe three years ago, have lived their lives quite contentedly without having met each other. Two people choosing readings and songs and dances and - God, if they want to - chair covers, that say something about them as a couple, that celebrate friendship and partnership and family. That, I think, is pretty wonderful. That they and their friends put into actual words their feelings, their love.”
July 24, 2022
Една от най-скучните книги, които съм чела. Доста съм разочарована от целия сюжет, очаквах нещо по-вълнуващо.
September 12, 2019
Тази книга ме остави със смесени чувства.
На моменти вниманието ми трудно се задържаше, на моменти преживявах написаното и плаках много.
Определено звучи като написана от човек без опит в писателското поприще. Това от една страна я прави привлекателна, а от друга объркана.
Със сигурност обаче звучи и много искрено, защото пресъздава личната история на авторката, която заменя адвокатската си кариера със света на кулинарията.
Несъмнено най-трогателната част от книгата разказва за една голяма лична загуба в живота на главната героиня и за пътя към нейното преодоляване. Оценяваме ли достатъчно близките си хора приживе, отделяме ли им необходимото време и внимание, казваме ли им колко много значат за нас?
На моменти вниманието ми трудно се задържаше, на моменти преживявах написаното и плаках много.
Определено звучи като написана от човек без опит в писателското поприще. Това от една страна я прави привлекателна, а от друга объркана.
Със сигурност обаче звучи и много искрено, защото пресъздава личната история на авторката, която заменя адвокатската си кариера със света на кулинарията.
Несъмнено най-трогателната част от книгата разказва за една голяма лична загуба в живота на главната героиня и за пътя към нейното преодоляване. Оценяваме ли достатъчно близките си хора приживе, отделяме ли им необходимото време и внимание, казваме ли им колко много значат за нас?
July 25, 2024
Очередные кулинарные мемуары про переживание потери, и в этот раз очень-очень понравившиеся и попавшие прямо в меня, почти эталон того, что мне нужно от этого жанра. Молодая девушка, недавно ставшая адвокатом, теряет мать и в последующие несколько лет пересматривает свою жизнь и перенаправляет её по другому пути, бросая работу и отправлясь учиться на кондитера. И вот здесь автор расписывает всё, что происходит в такой ситуации. Мама у неё была очень хорошая, настоящая подруга, что тоже было приятно читать в современном потоке сложных отношений с родительницами. Но из-за этого потеря переживается ещё тяжелее, и мы видим все её шаги - первоначальный бросок в проблеморешательство с похоронами, чтобы не смущать никого своими страданиями, потом долгая злость на себя, на маму, на мир и даже на других взрослых сирот и сравнение своей потери с их в свою пользу, потом уже почти нормальная жизнь с периодическими всплесками неожиданных вспоминаний, что некому позвонить рассказать про новый фильм или спросить семейный рецепт. Рецепты семейной еды плотно связаны с этим, и она подробно рассказывает, когда они ели, например, суп минестроне, и почему его точный именно мамин рецепт
так важен для неё, даже если оказывается, что это просто обычный рецепт из сборника популярной кулинарши, чьё телешоу они вместе смотрели. Точность рецепта оказывается важна для неё в том числе и потому, что ей начинает нравиться самая точная и алхимическая часть кулинарии - сложные десерты и сладости, приготовление которых она отправляется изучать в английский филиал Ле Кордон Блё. Подробности учёбы, что получается хорошо, что нет, а что совсем катастрофично (в конце будет список полученных шрамов и ожогов), что нравится делать, а что нравится есть, тонкости вкусовых нюансов и техпроцесса, отношения с учителями, однокурсниками, оставшейся семьёй, и с женихом, которого она встречает в начале книги, на поддержке которого совершает свой манёвр и свадьбой с которым завершает этот виток своей жизни. Даже немного жаль, я бы с удовольствием прочитала продолжение про её работу свадебным тортопёком, даже несмотря на то, что оно явно было бы более монотонным, хоть и, надеюсь, более счастливым.
так важен для неё, даже если оказывается, что это просто обычный рецепт из сборника популярной кулинарши, чьё телешоу они вместе смотрели. Точность рецепта оказывается важна для неё в том числе и потому, что ей начинает нравиться самая точная и алхимическая часть кулинарии - сложные десерты и сладости, приготовление которых она отправляется изучать в английский филиал Ле Кордон Блё. Подробности учёбы, что получается хорошо, что нет, а что совсем катастрофично (в конце будет список полученных шрамов и ожогов), что нравится делать, а что нравится есть, тонкости вкусовых нюансов и техпроцесса, отношения с учителями, однокурсниками, оставшейся семьёй, и с женихом, которого она встречает в начале книги, на поддержке которого совершает свой манёвр и свадьбой с которым завершает этот виток своей жизни. Даже немного жаль, я бы с удовольствием прочитала продолжение про её работу свадебным тортопёком, даже несмотря на то, что оно явно было бы более монотонным, хоть и, надеюсь, более счастливым.
January 3, 2022
A friend and bookseller recommended this book to me when I charged into Waterstones awash with grief and declared I needed to read ‘all the grief books’. I can really relate to Olivia in trying to read my way out of my feelings, and I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t the reason I’d bought this. I laughed out loud at my similarities with her, especially as she described being on the Tube reading grief memoir after memoir, clenching her teeth, and feeling nothing - the exact same thing I’d been doing.
I think what sets this book apart from other grief memoirs is the baking element. I really enjoyed the interspersed recipes, and reading about how Olivia carried on with her life and moved through things. It’s hard not to imprint any of my own feelings about grief and the ways I’ve been coping on to this, but it’s been so reassuring to read about another mid-20s girl losing her mum unexpectedly. I also loved how hopeful it was. It took me a while to read after my own therapist suggested I might go easy on the grief books, but I’m so glad I finished it when I did - I’m in a different place now to where I was when I started it, and that's hopeful in itself.
Would recommend to anyone, grieving or not. A book about moving through things, feeling the feelings and starting afresh.
I think what sets this book apart from other grief memoirs is the baking element. I really enjoyed the interspersed recipes, and reading about how Olivia carried on with her life and moved through things. It’s hard not to imprint any of my own feelings about grief and the ways I’ve been coping on to this, but it’s been so reassuring to read about another mid-20s girl losing her mum unexpectedly. I also loved how hopeful it was. It took me a while to read after my own therapist suggested I might go easy on the grief books, but I’m so glad I finished it when I did - I’m in a different place now to where I was when I started it, and that's hopeful in itself.
Would recommend to anyone, grieving or not. A book about moving through things, feeling the feelings and starting afresh.
January 30, 2020
What a beautiful memoir! Centred around the death of her mother and how it changed and drove her life forward from barrister to studying patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu.
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I laughed out loud a lot, particularly the plum swan, and the First chocolate tart. And I really wanted to see her fox pops pre-Cordon Bleu
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A purely honest book, honesty about grief, honest mental health, honest love, honest messing up and honest about just getting on with life.
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I love the legal bits , I am a big fan of true crime so that was an added bonus . I loved sarah Langford in your defence and this was reminiscent in the legal chapters.
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The food is also mouth watering, when she described the pineapple at the end I was drooling.
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Potts reads it bravely . She also has the most beautiful voice! There are recipes in each chapter, which as an audiobook you would have to write down while listening when you wanted to make.
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Delicious book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🍰
I laughed out loud a lot, particularly the plum swan, and the First chocolate tart. And I really wanted to see her fox pops pre-Cordon Bleu
🍰
A purely honest book, honesty about grief, honest mental health, honest love, honest messing up and honest about just getting on with life.
🍰
I love the legal bits , I am a big fan of true crime so that was an added bonus . I loved sarah Langford in your defence and this was reminiscent in the legal chapters.
🍰
The food is also mouth watering, when she described the pineapple at the end I was drooling.
🍰
Potts reads it bravely . She also has the most beautiful voice! There are recipes in each chapter, which as an audiobook you would have to write down while listening when you wanted to make.
🍰
Delicious book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
February 23, 2021
A really beautiful exploration of food writing and grief, Potts brings together how often the most awful moments in our lives can allow for good things to happen. Despite handling a very sad topic, I found this memoir really comforting, and have tabbed a good bunch of the recipes included. I did find the narrative flow a bit jumpy at times, but I really loved the detail she went into and it's definitely one I feel I will come back to.
April 20, 2021
“In A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear, I’m not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid.’ But I knew in that moment that he was wrong. I was afraid. I was so terrified it was visceral, physical. I felt like I needed to wee and be sick and be held tight, simultaneously. I felt like I would shatter if I were touched. I was scared of not having a mother. I was scared of losing that person who was contractually, biologically, genetically obligated to love me.”
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A memoir that combines my professional interest in grief, my personal interest in cake and my lifelong secret ambition to go to Le Cordon Bleu
Olivia Potts was a criminal barrister in London. One day she spoke to her Mum, as she did everyday, and the next she found out that her Mum had died overnight of an unexpected medical event. Lost in the chaos of grief and feeling completely untethered from the world around her, cooking was the only time that Livvy felt she could breathe. The reliability of lemons, eggs, sugar and butter transforming into lemon curd allowed a sense of control that had been lost in every other aspect of her life. The kitchen rather than the courtroom became a place of solace and joy and Olivia left the Bar and went to Le Cordon Bleu in London
Over the nine months of the Diplôme de Pâtisserie, Livvy learnt to bend sugar and chocolate to her will, to whip a choux into shape and to construct and then deconstruct plated puddings. Pâtisserie didn’t magically make the pain of her mother’s death go away, but it did help her to reach a point where she could talk about it and start to live a life less consumed by grief
A Half-Baked Idea won the @fortnums Debut Food Book Award and @ahalfbakedidea has also won an award from @thegfw
Not only did I love this book for its insights into the legal profession as well as @lecordonbleu (I particularly loved the chapter about eclairs, turns out they’re tricky little blighters) but for Olivia’s skill in approaching a difficult topic with an openness and honesty that is completely engaging. Five out of five chef’s hats for this fabulous foodie memoir
.
.
.
A memoir that combines my professional interest in grief, my personal interest in cake and my lifelong secret ambition to go to Le Cordon Bleu
Olivia Potts was a criminal barrister in London. One day she spoke to her Mum, as she did everyday, and the next she found out that her Mum had died overnight of an unexpected medical event. Lost in the chaos of grief and feeling completely untethered from the world around her, cooking was the only time that Livvy felt she could breathe. The reliability of lemons, eggs, sugar and butter transforming into lemon curd allowed a sense of control that had been lost in every other aspect of her life. The kitchen rather than the courtroom became a place of solace and joy and Olivia left the Bar and went to Le Cordon Bleu in London
Over the nine months of the Diplôme de Pâtisserie, Livvy learnt to bend sugar and chocolate to her will, to whip a choux into shape and to construct and then deconstruct plated puddings. Pâtisserie didn’t magically make the pain of her mother’s death go away, but it did help her to reach a point where she could talk about it and start to live a life less consumed by grief
A Half-Baked Idea won the @fortnums Debut Food Book Award and @ahalfbakedidea has also won an award from @thegfw
Not only did I love this book for its insights into the legal profession as well as @lecordonbleu (I particularly loved the chapter about eclairs, turns out they’re tricky little blighters) but for Olivia’s skill in approaching a difficult topic with an openness and honesty that is completely engaging. Five out of five chef’s hats for this fabulous foodie memoir
March 1, 2021
Very much enjoyed this one! Recipes at the end of every chapter was a lovely surprise addition. Made me dream of cake and now I too want to quit my job to become a pastry chef.
May 29, 2021
I choked up so many times on the long ruminations on grief and losing a mother! This wasn't masterfully woven together by any means but technically does what it says on the tin - equal parts about life as a barrister, le Cordon Bleu and loss.
October 1, 2020
A beautiful portrayal of love, loss and food. This book really resonated with me and her insights on grief were deeply profound.
Her recipes were also brilliant - I've already made three of them and plan to tackle the souffle next...
Loved it, would give 100 stars if I could.
Her recipes were also brilliant - I've already made three of them and plan to tackle the souffle next...
Loved it, would give 100 stars if I could.
December 28, 2020
a book about becoming a chef (or patissier in this case) gets me every damn time.
January 3, 2021
Absolutely brilliant - made me want to go to cookery school and make endless creme caramels
September 28, 2021
Lovely book about grief and pastry and listening to your gut. Thought it got a bit samey - a few too many failed custards and grief metaphors for me - but on the upside, when I read it before bed it made my dreams very food-centric which was enjoyable.
September 18, 2019
I read this book for work earlier in the month, as I was interviewing the author (she’s from the North East originally!) during my last week there - I was a bit worried, imagine I didn’t like the book and then I had to chat with this woman on the phone?! THANKFULLY, this memoir is brilliant, honest and made me very very hungry for cake, and it was a pleasure to then be able to chat with the author!
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And I have to say, chatting with Olivia made me appreciate the book even more in retrospect, as she was very open and honest about how writing the book became a cathartic experience for her. It turned out she actually hadn’t processed her mother’s death properly, and while writing the book she actually decide to seek therapy to help her process the emotions her book was bringing back.
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After the death of her mother, Olivia decided her high intensity career as a criminal barrister wasn’t the path she was meant to be on, and decided to pursue professionally the hobby that she turned to during her time of grief. I loved reading about her experiences at Le Cordon Bleu doing her Diplôme de Pâtisserie - it just made me want to get into my kitchen and bake! Probably won’t be spinning any sugar roses any time soon, but baking and then sharing (well, sometimes) the result is such a satisfying experience.
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I actually teared up at the end, as Olivia’s wedding approaches and she muses on grief and joy. I loved what she said about the deceased not being with us in spirit, but in those that they left behind, in their actions and words and choices. That way, they’ll always be with us.
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And I have to say, chatting with Olivia made me appreciate the book even more in retrospect, as she was very open and honest about how writing the book became a cathartic experience for her. It turned out she actually hadn’t processed her mother’s death properly, and while writing the book she actually decide to seek therapy to help her process the emotions her book was bringing back.
.
After the death of her mother, Olivia decided her high intensity career as a criminal barrister wasn’t the path she was meant to be on, and decided to pursue professionally the hobby that she turned to during her time of grief. I loved reading about her experiences at Le Cordon Bleu doing her Diplôme de Pâtisserie - it just made me want to get into my kitchen and bake! Probably won’t be spinning any sugar roses any time soon, but baking and then sharing (well, sometimes) the result is such a satisfying experience.
.
I actually teared up at the end, as Olivia’s wedding approaches and she muses on grief and joy. I loved what she said about the deceased not being with us in spirit, but in those that they left behind, in their actions and words and choices. That way, they’ll always be with us.
April 18, 2020
Ik kan hier maar een ding over zeggen: wanneer kan ik zelf een patisserie opleiding gaan volgen? Heerlijke combinatie van een persoonlijk verhaal over rouw, recepten en een ontdekkingsreis door de wereld van kleine gebakjes en gesponnen suiker.
July 12, 2020
I met Olivia three days after my mom died and bought this book not once but twice- forgetting I had hidden it because I wanted to show support but wasn’t ready to read about anyone else’s mom dying. It’s so beautiful. I struggled at parts- unsurprisingly- but am so glad I read it. It has also confirmed for me that I will never enrol in a cookery school. Her mum would be so proud of this wonderful book.
August 4, 2019
Olivia's personality shines through in A Half Baked Idea. Her writing has the 3 Ws: warmth, wit and wisdom. I practically got the bends from crying in one chapter where she articulated her grief at the sudden death of her mother so acutely and then laughing so hard in another when she was lamenting her poor 'grape carving' skills while a fledgling Cordon Bleu student. The end of the book was especially uplifting.
September 1, 2020
Excellent in parts, but like many a failed soufflé, it falls apart if you poke at it too much. I think Olivia Potts could have benefited from a more open approach to storytelling, and while her recipes are stellar, I felt that there was something lacking in the personal narrative. An excellent depiction of life at the Cordon Bleu, but not so illuminating when it came to her experience of grief. That said, if you're not tempted to try some of her cakes and treats, I'll eat my (non existent) chef's hat.
Read
November 21, 2020A very tender read about grief and the aftermath. It also follows her journey at the Le Cordon Bleu bakery school, and I loved reading about that particularly! An emotional story, with a lot of honest heart.
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