Warm Cranberry Scones with Orange Glaze, The Secret Garden Cookbook by Amy Cotler. Photography by Alison Bickel.
Frances Hodgson Burnett’s wonderful tale The Secret Garden celebrates its young heroine, Mary Lennox, as she brings an abandoned garden back to life. It also delights in good food, robust appetites, and the health and strength they can bring.
It describes a world where water, light, and loving care bring soil and plants back to life—and also one in which fresh milk, homemade currant buns, and hearty, simple fare renew and bring pleasure to the novel’s complex and fascinating characters.
Amy Cotler serves up in these pages 50 recipes, all updated for the modern kitchen, that are at once true to Mary’s world and completely appealing for today’s tastes.
You will find a bounty of baked things, including English Crumpets, Cozy Currant Buns, Warm Cranberry Scones, Jam Roly Poly, Dough Cakes with Cinnamon and Sugar, and The Best Sticky Gingerbread Parkin. (A parkin is a cake rich in molasses, honey, and sugar that often is served on Guy Fawkes Day.) There is the more-substantial and savoury fare for teatime and dinnertime, too, and for breakfast and brunch, along with drinks and snacks for the daily whirl—all guaranteed to keep the magic of this beloved tale alive for years to come. (more…)