Win a copy of Sweet Seasons Wholesome Treats for Every Occasion, by Michael and Pippa James

by Lisa Finnimore

Sweet Seasons is the highly anticipated baking book from Michael and Pippa James, a husband and wife team based in Australia. Following on from their second baking book, All Day Baking: Savoury, Not Sweet, we are turned towards the sweeter side of baking and offered recipes and stories from Michael and Pippa’s repertoire inspired by local, seasonal produce.

Sweet Seasons is a very personal book. Drawing on Michael’s Cornish childhood and Pippa’s experience of growing up eating from her family’s thriving Canberra garden, the book presents treasured family recipes from the past alongside recipes the couple has developed more recently.

The book isn’t divided into calendar seasons, but into charming chapters based on the seasons of life, the growing season of local produce, and celebratory markers in the calendar. So in the second chapter, Seasons Past, we are gifted recipes from the James’s childhoods, such as a beautiful Cornish Saffron Cake, Ginger Fairings and a Black Forest Gateau with Rye and Buttermilk. Seasons Fast focuses on dishes that can be baked when we are pressed for time and still want to eat well, such as No-Bake Muesli Bars or the Peanut Cookies recipe featured here. Other chapters include Seasons Shared (big dishes for feeding others: think Apple and Buckwheat Pie), Seasons Captured (to preserve the gluts with recipes like Verbena Lemonade and Fig Leaf Custard) and Seasons Harnessed, which provide reliable pastry recipes as the foundations of the repertoire.

One of my favourite chapters is Seasons Savoured, which provides inspiration for more technical recipes that take time to make, such as Lemon and Raspberry Eclairs, and bread recipes like babka; not to mention the best Cardamom Buns I’ve ever made (and I’ve made a fair few). My absolute favourite chapter is Seasons Marked, which contains recipes that are important to particular times and rituals. Christmas features heavily here, with festive cakes, puddings and pies, but there is also Summer Pudding, and Cherry and Rye Pie for summer holidays, and Michael’s famous recipe for Hot Cross Buns, which features a pureed orange in the dough for the most moist and flavourful version of this iconic Easter bake.

Throughout the book you will find use of whole grain flours, wholesome inclusions such as seeds, nuts and fresh fruits, and luscious full fat dairy. With its emphasis on whole ingredients, natural sweeteners and seasonal produce, Sweet Seasons is a great fit for us here at The Sourdough Club. Our readers will be interested to see how Michael and Pippa’s lives and baking are rooted in their communities: their distinguished Tivoli Road Bakery in Melbourne was a central part of the neighbourhood for six years before the couple moved on to prioritise recipe development and writing in a less time-constrained family life. This has allowed them space and energy to launch a new venture based on their commitment to regenerative living, called Urbanstead (www.urbanstead.au/about). There they are “exploring the transformative potential of food, for people and planet”. This is largely done through the classes run from Urbanstead, where people can “learn new skills and help restore connection to the food we eat which has enormous significance on our quality of life as individuals and communities.”

Whether you’re after the outstanding recipes, the inspiring stories, or would simply like to know more about the rhythms of life around which the book has grown, Sweet Seasons is sure to delight you. I’m off to start some autumnal baking with Pumpkin Pie Muffins with Maple Cream Cheese, and you’re invited to join me.

Sweet Seasons: Wholesome treats for every occasion is out on 26 September, Hardie Grant Books.

We have a copy of Sweet Seasons to give away to one lucky baker.

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