Synopses & Reviews
LEON Baking and Desserts is a gorgeously-packaged book from the successful, healthy fast-food restaurant chain LEON in Europe. Following LEON's founding principle that what tastes good can also do you good, three quarters of the recipes are sugar, dairy, wheat or gluten free - so there's plenty to indulge in even if you have a food allergy, an intolerance or one eye on your waistline.
LEON Baking and Desserts is a two-part family cookbook, with one half devoted to everyday delights like granolas, cakes, breads, pizzas, and the second half, special occasion indulgences like flourless chocolate fudge cake, toffee apples, caramelized onion and olive tart, and plum ice-cream!
About the Author
Originally from Marin County, California, Claire Ptak worked as a pastry cook and later pastry chef for Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA before moving to London where she started Violet Cakes on an East End market stall in 2005. Claire's American-style bakes have a very loyal following and regularly sell out at her and two market stalls and recently opened store. In addition to making cakes, Claire Ptak is a food stylist, food writer and food developer. Recent projects include her
The Whoopie Pie Book. As a food stylist she has worked with Yotam Ottolenghi and Jamie Oliver. Claire's cakes have been featured widely in newspapers and magazines, including
Elle,
Time Out, the
New York Times and
Food and Wine.
Claire continues to work with Alice Waters at special events worldwide, including the inauguration of President Obama. She recently worked with friends Todd Selby, and Ignacio Mattos on the opening of the new Brooklyn hotspot ISA in Williamsburg.
Henry Dimbleby is one of the co-founders of the restaurant chain LEON in London, first opened in July 2004. Their goal was to change the face of fast food and six months after opening, Leon was named the Best New Restaurant in Great Britain at the Observer Food Monthly Awards (by a judging panel that included Rick Stein, Gordon Ramsay, Nigel Slater, Heston Blumenthal, Ruth Rogers and Jay Rayner). There are now nine restaurants serving over 50,000 people a week.