Q&A: Judith Sutton

By Tania Barnes -- Library Journal, 7/15/2005

Baker extraordinaire (and longtime LJ reviewer) Judith Sutton serves up a real treat with her latest cookbook, Sweet Gratitude (see review, p. 115 of the print issue). The recipes taste great, and, when given in gratitude, they'll make you feel good, too. Sutton talks to LJ about creating her cookbook.

Where did you get the idea for your book?

I had been thinking about doing a book of easy dessert recipes for a while, because I had been developing (i.e., "making up") a lot of dessert recipes for Chocolatier, Food & Wine, and other magazines, as well as for various book projects. But what really inspired this book was a comment from a good friend. I'd been working on a project that involved making about 150 dozen cookies in the course of three months. At the same time, I had to take my cat to the vet for regular visits. Naturally, I started taking cookies along. When I told my friend about how excited everyone at the clinic was whenever I delivered some of these treats, she said I should be writing Treats for the Cat Doctor. I started working on the book then, and eventually it turned into Sweet Gratitude. My publisher suggested the new title (the original one could be a bit confusing!), but the subtitle stayed more or less the same: baking a thank-you for the important people in your life was always what the book was about.

What do you think distinguishes Sweet Gratitude from the other baking books out there?

While there are other books about gifts from the kitchen, this one is more personal than most—the title and idea behind it really seem to strike a chord with many people. Also, the recipes are simple (though not necessarily unsophisticated)—I wanted them to be easy enough to make for someone who never or rarely bakes. But although they are simple to make, they don't rely on convenience foods, as do so many of the quick-and-easy books today. I also tried to make the instructions as clear as possible without being intimidating. Finally, although I hesitate to use the word foolproof, the recipes work—unfortunately, there are many recipes out there that do not.

Did you make up all the recipes, or have some been adapted? Do you have a favorite?

These are recipes I developed myself, but certainly many were inspired by or adapted from recipes from other cookbook authors, food writers, and pastry chefs. It would be hard to say which is my favorite, because while I've developed dozens (hundreds?) over the years, I consider this a collection of my all-time favorites, new and old. However, the ones I make most often are the Very Special Fudgy Brownies and the Brown Sugar Shortbread. But then there are the Blueberry-Raspberry Tart and the Spicy English Gingersnaps, not to mention the Hot Fudge Sauce….

How many times do you usually try a recipe before you are satisfied? Were there any unexpected outcomes?

When I first began developing baking recipes, I often had to try a recipe at least three (or more) times before I was completely satisfied (meaning that I couldn't stop eating it!). Now that I have more experience (and a repertoire of basic components that I can build on), I often get just the results I wanted on the first try. But I always make it at least one or two more times. For this book, I also asked friends and family, bakers and nonbakers alike, to test recipes to make sure their results matched mine. One surprise for this book was the Mocha Silk Pie. I had made it in various versions for other publications, but when I retested it, some of my trusty "taste-testers" at the vet's thought it was too sweet. So I made another version with quite a bit less sugar, and they were definitely right!

My mother maintains that people are fundamentally either cooks (savory) or bakers (sweet). Is that true? Are you a baker?

I think she's basically right. Baking and cooking are really quite different, and they seem to attract two different types of people. Cooking allows for a lot more improvisation—if you're making a pasta dish, for example, and you decide it's not quite right, you can throw in some hot pepper flakes or a little lemon zest. Baking relies far more on chemistry and thus requires more precision. Of course, that doesn't mean a pastry chef or home baker can't be imaginative, but certain formulas must be followed. But I like cooking a lot, too (my last book was on truffles—the mushroom type, not the candy). When I worked in restaurants after cooking school, I was usually on the savory side, not in the pastry kitchen. But then a chef friend convinced me to start making desserts for his restaurant, and another chef asked me to be his pastry chef for a couple of months. So I found myself doing more baking—and I certainly like having just-baked sweets around!