Recipes

"This is one of the most enticing cakes imaginable. Almonds, milk, orange, mint, rose water—the list of ingredients alone seduces. The cake itself is strewn with dried rose petals to further snare any who haven’t already been lured by its aroma. Dee is one of my favorite bakers in London. For years, I’d pop into Fernandez and Wells in Soho and grow indecisive in the face of her Moroccan Honey Cake and her Greek Orange Almond Semolina Cake, until, that is, I tasted this beauty and never looked back. When I asked to speak to the baker, I was told that if I hurried I’d catch her around the corner—Jorge Fernandez and Rick Wells have several cafés, each unique, including one on Beak Street and one a few paces away on Lexington Street. I dashed after her with a fury, and minutes later we were seated in a back courtyard talking recipes. We were still there an hour later.

When Dee heard that my parents had lived in Morocco, she told me the story of traveling there with her husband, a Moroccan, to meet his mother. Dee had thought herself a decent baker, but seeing her mother-in-law crouch by the side of a sandy road one day and, with little more than honey, olive oil, and almonds, produce a cake with a delicate, moist crumb and lingering perfume—well, it was a revelation. Dee’s cakes now carry the flavors of North Africa, Greece, Turkey, and the Middle East, and Fernandez and Wells has garnered a fanatical following among foodies searching for a bit more than a classic scone and clotted cream. For those who’ve had their sweet tooth pulled, the cured meats, farmhouses cheeses, sourdough bread, and fierce coffee will make you a regular."

Reprinted with permission from The London Cookbook by Aleksandra Crapanzano(@aleksandracrapanzano). Ten Speed Press © 2016.