The Cook and Baker

The Cook and Baker – Cherie Bevan & Tass Tauroa

Food that’s about generosity, rather than the prevailing trend for self-denial.

When The Cook and Baker opened its doors in 2012 there was no knowing how people would react. Diet gurus were preaching ‘sugar is poison’ whilst raw food, the Mediterranean diet and the joys of green juice were all the rage. In their Bondi Junction neighbourhood, this little shop was surrounded by organic health-food outlets. Was the world ready for the return of the big fat jam donut, the lolly cake and a ginger oat crunch?!  Luckily it didn’t take long before crowds started milling four-deep outside the shop. Owners Cherie Bevan and Tass Tauroa were not the only people harbouring a nostalgic longing for richly flavoured cooking.

Now in their first book The Cook and Baker, Cherie and Tass have modernised and refined traditional recipes but stayed true to their own early memories of home baking in New Zealand. In this book you’ll find an exquisite hummingbird cake, a delicate red velvet cake and decadent chocolate salted caramel mixed with some NZ favourites such as the Afghan biscuit and Louise cake. There are gluten-free goods such as the much loved flourless mandarin-marmalade cake, flourless chocolate fudge cake and even a raw brownie!

The Cook and Baker (beautiful hardback) contains 110 fool-proof recipes that offer everything you need to take your home baking up a notch. These are deliciously bold recipes with traditional roots. You’ll just adore the world’s best donut filled with vanilla custard and jam, cream filled chocolate lamingtons and cheese scones better than your grandmother used to make!

Cherie and Tass’s philosophy is summed up when they say ‘We cater for modern taste needs without sacrificing flavour and the sense of abundance that were our guiding principles.  As much as possible we have stuck to the ideal of home-made ingredients from the jam in our donuts to the tomato sauce served with our pies and the honey from our rooftop hives’. 

Who could possibly resist?

Cherie Bevan (the Cook) grew up inspired by a mother and grandmother who were fabulous home bakers. For decades she has run landmark deli cafés, including Gusto and Crave, in Sydney's eastern suburbs. In 2012 she joined forces with fellow Kiwi Tass to create The Cook and Baker.

Tass Tauroa (the Baker) spent his formative cooking years in the New Zealand Royal Navy. He worked at Gusto and then in London under Michelin star chef Bruno Loubet. Returning to Sydney he worked at Jersey Cow, Darling Mills, Buzo and Bird Cow Fish before establishing The Cook and Baker with Cherie

The Cook and Baker

Cherie Bevan and Tass Tauroa

Publication date: 1 September 2015

240 pages

Hardback - $55.00

9781743365199