When Meg Rivers children were young and they clamored for a sweet treat in the afternoon, she was reluctant to give them the kind of commercial cakes so often made with artificial flavors, preservatives and colors. She started to bake her own wholesome cakes, traybakes, and cookies using good-quality, seasonal ingredients. Word spread about how delicious these treats were and her friends began to place orders.

When she got her first order for a cake to be sent to a friend in Africa, she decided to turn her hobby into a mailorder business and Meg Rivers Artisan Bakery was born.

After Meg's untimely death in 2001, family friend Julian Day took over the running of the bakery. In this artisan cookbook, Julian has collected the bakery's most popular recipes inspired by English afternoon-tea classics, but with a sprinkling of influences from elsewhere in the world. This beautiful book features chapters on Family Cakes, Small Cakes, Traybakes, Cookies, Loaves and Tarts, and recipes for Ginger Cake, Wheat-free Chocolate & Hazelnut Torte, Flapjacks, Amaretti Cookies, Apricot & Nut Loaf, and Lemon Tart.