Food writer and stylist Rebecca Ffrench comes from a long line of dessert lovers. She fondly remembers the special bonding time her grandparents had over dessert. The smell of fresh baked brownies transports her back into her mother’s kitchen where there was always some kind of foil-covered treat waiting on the counter. And, even today, she rarely lets the week go by without baking something for her family. Just as she remembers her mother’s warm, chocolatey pudding cake more fondly than her Monday meatloaf, Rebecca wants her own kids’ memories of dessert to be equally vivid.

It was this very sense of nostalgia for these family heirloom recipes that planted the seeds for her first cookbook. After the loss of a beloved aunt, Rebecca came into possession of the aunt’s journal. It turned out that this journal was not only filled with memories but also a lifetime of recipes—recipes that would have been lost had they not been recorded and passed on. This inspired Rebecca to begin recording her family’s history and heritage through cakes and cookies, pies and puddings, tarts and treats, and in this book, she includes more than 75 of her family’s favorite “I’m home!” treats, from an ooey-gooey “Go-To” Hot Fudge Pudding Cake to a moist, dense Coconut Bunny Cake that Rebecca’s dad perfected to please his granddaughters. Any recipe you pick from her list sounds lush and tempting: Love Struck Sour Cherry Pie, Norwegian Custard Buns, Spiced Apple Cider Doughnuts, No-Fail Caramel Sauce, Criss-Cross Apricot Coffeecake—the list goes deliciously on and on. Broken down into Preserving, Celebrating, Giving, and Creating, SWEET HOME teaches readers not only how to make delectable desserts, but how to keep your family’s traditions alive. Whether she’s preserving her Norwegian heritage by making Cloudberry Krumkaker Cones, celebrating Halloween with a Spooktacular Cheesecake, giving Kahlua Pound Cake through the post, or creating a new family tradition by making her father’s Chocolate Mudslide Cookies, Rebecca Miller Ffrench shows you how easy—and delicious—it is to make your home a sweet one. Add in the warm and winning headnotes on family and baking, tips to make each dish a success, and a special Baking Notes and Pantry section, and SWEET HOME is a recipe for a dessert classic—the perfect go-to guide for families wanting to preserve their history through recipes and food.

Sweet Home Cookbook Trailer from Ideology, Inc. on Vimeo.