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I have a secret crush. He's tall and fair-haired and I can't stop thinking about him. I think about him when I'm supposed to be working and I think about him when I'm pushing the pram and I even think about him when I'm curled up on the sofa with the Boy Wonder.
The new man of my dreams is Dean Brettschneider, a New Zealand baker who counts Rick Stein, Peter Gordon and Anton Mosiman among his fans thanks to his amazing ways with bread and patisserie. You should see his buns, not to mention his fig and aniseed scone twist or apricot and pistachio tart! But the path of true love never runs smooth and we are going to be parted by the cruel forces of the public library.
I found his book, Global Baker, wedged between tomes on wedding cakes and muffins in the part of the library usually frequented by derelicts in search of a cosy place to snooze. It's a brilliant collection of advice and recipes for everything from pain au levain to spun sugar cages. Dean (we're on first-name terms) now works in Shanghai, where he has introduced the Chinese to the delights of chocolate hot cross buns, baked cheesecakes and lamingtons made with red bean paste. I love him. I told the Boy Wonder that I was going to run away to learn the secrets of amazing baking from a man I'd never met. He said, "Great. Have you seen my cellphone?"
I haven't actually made anything out of his book. Yet. But when I get
my own copy I'm going to start at the almond croissants and work all the way through to the xiang cong hua juan bao (Chinese flower steam buns). It's all about spreading the love.
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