Featuring gorgeous photographs shot in both England and California, Love is a Pink Cake is a treasure trove of inspiration for anyone eager to emulate Ptak's unique sensibility and dreamy creations in their own kitchen. Delightful . . . Claire has also given us a very delicious recipe for a dessert of muscat wine and raspberries, which I have already bookmarked for my own Easter lunch.--Nigel Slater "Guardian"

Claire’s desserts are more than just a conclusion to a great meal; they’re bites of special memories for me . . . Her cakes have been at the center of some of our most cherished family moments." New York Times - Meghan Markle Read More Chef Ruth Rogers and photographer Matthew Donaldson on breaking new ground with The River Cafe Look Book I know that all I’ve pretty much done is shout recipe titles at you, but it’s hard to temper my excitement, and I’m not sure I’d ever want to. I regard the happiness I get from Love is a Pink Cake as a real gift, and I’m so grateful to Claire Ptak for it. It remains for me to do no more than tell you that the recipe I’m sharing with you today is her mother’s Lemon Meringue Pie Bars. For the topping, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy but not fluffy. Add the extracts, salt, eggs and egg white, then beat well.A lot of the photos depict the setting of the sections, Northern California and England. While there might be more scones in the England section, I really couldn't classify the recipes as being strictly NoCa or UK. They all sound worthy of making.

Divide the batter between the cake tins and bake for 45–50 minutes, depending on which size tins you are using. The cakes should be starting to turn golden, feel springy to the touch and a skewer inserted should come out clean. Fiona Leahy, Claire Ptak, Felicity Blunt and Stanley Tucci at the Love is a Pink Cake launch party at Rochelle Canteen Marco Bahler Put the butter, sugar and oil into the bowl of a stand mixer and cream until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until combined.Harry and Meghan’s wedding cake baker Claire Ptak at the Love is a Pink Cake launch party at Rochelle Canteen Marco Bahler Ptak’s love for nature’s bounty shines through in this collection for fans of farm-to-table baking." Booklist - Jessica S. Levy It might sound like I’m down on this, but on the contrary: There’s an intellectual honesty in this book. As a sort-of celebrity baker Ptak is webbed across continents and industries; what seems like name-dropping can also be true to the author’s experience. As she writes in the introduction, “Take the experience of your life and let it shape your baking. Bake more often. Bake for those you love. Love is a pink cake.” When ready to finish the cake, unwrap it, turn out onto a turntable or cake plate and cover the top and sides with the remaining coconut icing, then lightly press desiccated coconut to cover. Stir in the chopped almonds, flour and baking powder just to combine. Dollop this over the jam—don’t worry about spreading it evenly as it will melt into place in the oven and spreading it can cause the jam to get mixed in rather than remaining its own layer. Return to the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden and set. Allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Not to say this undermines the book. For a hobby baker wanting to sharpen my skills, the challenge is part of the allure. Meanwhile, other recipes offer failsafe reliability. A Big Sur cookie uses up leftover granola; it’s not only a great cookie, but an exciting paradigm: Any recipe using up the dregs of my cupboard is a winner, and the final product will vary greatly by granola. Ptak’s bakewell bars are buttery, nutty, and laced with tart jam. They cut beautifully, look great on a stand, and make a traybake out of the most British possible tart. It was Violet that first opened my eyes to the potential of bakewell, a U.K. bakery case staple that can be stodgy, gummy, or bland. These, on the other hand, are now on my roster, along with those rye brownies. Ptak's love for nature's bounty shines through in this collection for fans of farm-to-table baking.--Jessica S. Levy "Booklist"Of course, Berry’s cookbook is good; just to be sure about that tart shell, I remade it for a quiche, and it remained an unassailable tart shell, one I’ll make again. To say that the book suffers in comparison to Ptak’s would be incorrect; they are different, with divergent goals, and as a hobbyist I need a completist tome as much as I enjoy reveling in Ptak’s meadowy sensibilities and artistic sympathy. But as both books are being issued around a great national inflection point, it makes sense to note that, just as they illustrate two very different kinds of baking books, they each also represent how baking can explain two confections of Britain’s national character, the cool multicultural East London and the white upper-middle-class English countryside. It is auspicious (if not intentional) timing that both Claire Ptak’s Love Is a Pink Cake and a revised and updated reissue of Mary Berry’s Baking Bible are now out in the U.S., right on the heels of the coronation of the earnest if stilted King Charles III. The two books, published within a week of each other, are authored by ambassadors of British baking, representative perhaps more so of the idea of it than individual recipes — although they both have some great ones, and Pink Cake in particular is indispensable. I want to read, cook and devour the gorgeous food of brilliant Claire Ruth Rogers, author of the 'River Cafe Cookbook' For the shortbread base, combine the flour, icing sugar, salt and butter in a food processor and blitz until the mixture has just come together into a ball. Press the pastry evenly into the prepared tin. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown, then remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 160°C fan/180°C/350°F/ gas mark 4. Let the base cool for 10 minutes before spreading the jam gently over the top. Claire Ptak, the Chez Panisse alum who runs London's Violet Cakes, divides this sumptuous book into two. 'California' is produce-forward, while Harry and Meghan's wedding cake is the talk of 'England.'--Laura Regensdorf "Vanity Fair"